So what did Josh Shapiro actually say about state money for stadiums? (We've seen the video)

The Associated Press made a mess on Sunday. And we’ve spent plenty of time today cleaning it up.

It started when the AP pushed a story to umpteen platforms regarding comments from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro about the availability, or not, of state money for stadium projects. We saw the headline on the ESPN.com NFL page, we read the story, and we posted something that accurately conveyed the substance of the AP reporting.

Unfortunately, the substance of the reporting — that Shapiro said state money would not be available — was substantively erroneous.

In our follow-up item, it wasn’t clear what had happened because the AP simply changed its story without acknowledging the prior version or explaining the reason for the revision. The truth is that their reporter flat-out whiffed.

Here’s the transcript, as provided by Shapiro’s office and as revised based on the raw video of the interaction.

AP reporter: “When the Sixers were pursuing their new arena, you said that you were not in favor of using state money to build the new arena.”

Shapiro: “Correct.”

AP reporter: “The Eagles lease is up in 2032. [Owner] Jeffrey Lurie has floated the idea that possibly there’ll be a new football stadium in the complex as well. Is federal — is state money off the table for that as well?”

Shapiro: “Well, I’m not going to get into the specifics of any of our conversations here in this setting. I will tell you that we want to make sure that the Steelers, we want to make sure the Eagles, and all of our pro teams have outstanding places to play, that are welcoming for fans, that generate revenue for the economy, just like the good folks here at Pocono do.

“But we also need to be really careful about utilizing state tax dollars, particularly at a time where we’re seeing the likeliness of massive federal cuts that are going to knock half a million people off of their health care. A hundred and forty thousand are going to lose food assistance. I got 25 rural hospitals that will likely shutter if these federal plans go forward.

“And so I’m very worried about the overall budget. I’m very worried about the overall economic situation given the federal cuts and so you want to balance investing in tourism, investing in sports, investing in great arenas and facilities with making sure that you’re also requesting those dollars in the things that Pennsylvanians need most. So it’s always a balance. We’ve got really great communication with Jeffrey Lurie and with [Steelers owner] Art Rooney and we’re going to continue to dialogue with them about what they need and what’s possible.”

So that’s what was asked, and that’s what was answered. Shapiro never said state money won’t be available.

That said, based on his broader response, it sounds as if it won’t be easy to shake state dollars from the tree. But he absolutely did not say state money is off the table.

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