Hi, all. I have deleted today’s edition of the newsletter, which was entitled “No Kings Day 3.0, the largest single-day protest in American history.”

The newsletter misattributed a quote by Trump spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, to Abigail Spanberger, the Governor of Virginia. The corrected version of the statement, which has been changed only to identify the speaker, is as follows:

Professor Fisher’s “collective therapy” soundbite was channeled by Trump spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, who said, “the only people who care about these Trump derangement therapy sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them.”

I apologize to Governor Spanberger and to everyone who expressed confusion, indignation, or outrage over the mistake or demanded a retraction.

My only defense is exhaustion. As the now-deleted post indicated, I sent the newsletter at 12:46 a.m. My last correction was to fact-check the quotes, and I learned I had originally misattributed the above quote to Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary. The fact check indicated that the correct speaker was Abigail Jackson, but I typed Abigail Spanberger and then hit “send.” As I said, exhaustion.

I would have hoped the mistake was obvious, since I had identified the speaker as “Trump spokesperson**,**” but some people expressed confusion, saying they believed the Democratic Governor of Virginia had quit her job to become a Trump spokesperson.

While that unlikely scenario could have been clarified with a 10-second Google search, I deleted the post because the mistake hijacked the comments section and diverted attention from what was intended to be a post that would lift the spirits of No Kings Day 3.0 protesters after they had been ignored and maligned by the mainstream media.

But, alas, the newsletter comments turned into a discussion of my mistake, which defeated the well-intentioned purpose of the newsletter. As each new reader discovered the mistake, they posted a correction without realizing that the error had been identified many times over in the comment section. Oh, and my inbox is filling up with emails pointing out the mistake. Reading those emails is not the way I had hoped to spend today.

This was my mistake. I again apologize to Governor Spanberger and her constituents. I will try not to make mistakes in the future, although I am certain that I will. When I do, I would ask for a little grace and understanding for mistakes that are obvious from the context. Of course, readers should hold me to a high standard of accuracy and should feel free to vigorously disagree with my viewpoints, inferences, and arguments.

Enjoy the day. I am going to clean my garage and try to forget about this edition of the newsletter.

Talk to you tomorrow.

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