It’s been a bumpy 24 hours for ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos. This morning on Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos apologized for failing to disclose $75,000 in contributions to the Clinton Foundation–donations that were reported Thursday and sparked immediate outrage, especially among Republicans, who questioned Stephanopoulos’ ability to cover the upcoming 2016 presidential campaign.
Stephanopoulos began his statement by saying “now I want to address some news you may have seen–about me.”
“Over the last several years, I’ve made substantial donations to dozens of charities, including the Clinton Global Foundation. Those donations were a matter of public record, but I should have made additional disclosures on air when I covered the foundation, and I now believe that directing personal donations to that foundation was a mistake. Even though I made them strictly to support work done to stop the spread of AIDS, help children and protect the environment in poor countries, I should have gone the extra mile to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. I apologize to all of you for failing to do that.”
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Critics have noted that revealing the donations, to ABC and viewers–especially while covering the Clintons–would not be considered going the “extra mile” by many journalists, but rather, simply doing one’s job.
Stephanopoulos is expected to discuss the matter Sunday on ABC’s This Week.