Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) didn't suffer facial fractures at the hands of some mob goons, according to a man who claims to have concocted that tall tale.
Larry Pfeifer, a 50-year-old from Las Vegas, tells the Las Vegas Sun that after seeing a conservative site question Reid's version of events — the senator said he sustained the injuries in a freak workout accident — he wanted to ensnare some gullible sites with an unfounded rumor of his own. Sure enough, the plan worked.
The rumor spread quickly after Hinderaker published it April 3, landing Pfeifer on conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham's radio program six days later when Hinderaker was a guest host, and leading to a conversation between Pfeifer and Rush Limbaugh. Pfeifer said he tried to get on Limbaugh’s show, where he planned to admit he’d made up the story. [...] He said he decided to present the truth after Limbaugh rejected him as a guest but repeated the rumor April 15 on his talk-radio show. [Las Vegas Sun]
Pfeifer said he was surprised how rapidly the story spread considering he spiced it with blatantly false details. And he expressed remorse for bringing prolonged scrutiny to Reid's injuries.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I would really like to apologize to Harry Reid and his brother," Pfeifer told the Sun. "What I did was [expletive] up."
-
‘Tariffs at their essence are an income transfer’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Why is Trump backtracking on the Hyundai immigration raid?Today’s Big Question Backlash threatens investment in US manufacturing
-
The 9 restaurants to eat at this very momentThe Week Recommends They’re award-winning. Isn’t that reason enough?
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
