Another Hoax: Woman Pens Harrowing Account of Her Life in Abject Poverty; Gets $100,000 from Donors via GoFundMe; Turns Out To Be Middle Class and Educated in a Private School

The story went viral on the left, of course. Touré made the story the centerpiece of a broader call for helping the poor (i.e., redistribution of wealth).

Tirado’s republished confessional in The Huffington Post received more than 4 million views and was featured by MSNBC host Touré. He was clearly moved by the plight of this woman.

“Poverty is sticky,” the MSNBC host opined. “It clings to you, leaves physical markers on the body.” He singled out a portion of Tirado’s essay that was particularly sympathetic.

I have missing teeth and skin that looks like it will when you live on b12 and coffee, and nicotine, and no sleep. Beauty is a thing you get when you can afford it and that’s how you get the job you need in order to be beautiful.

...

But an investigation into Tirado’s background by the Houston Press’ Angelica Leicht revealed that the blog post’s author is a private-school-educated Democratic activist who wildly exaggerated her circumstances. She owns a home as the result of her parent’s generosity. She has worked in politics since 2004 and has called herself a private political consultant since 2010.

She’s married to a Marine, has met President [Barack] Obama while interning for a politician (who obviously wasn’t disgusted by those rotten teeth), and has plenty of time to visit Las Vegas on vacation. And blog about her privileged life on WordPress.
She speaks both German and Dutch, and has a well-rounded political blog that ended in 2011. It’s also a blog where she quite plainly references being paid to win [political] races.

What's her defense? Well, the left has three go-to defenses when they're caught saying things which are either untrue or disgraceful.

1. "I was being satirical."

2. "I was just trying to 'start a dialogue.'"

3. "You misunderstood."

4. "I've been taken out of context."

She goes for 4 with a side of 3:

And that is the answer to the question many of you have asked. How is it that someone with such clarity and evocation has any right to assert that they are poor? It is likely untrue. Well, it is and it isn’t. You have to understand that the piece you read was taken out of context, that I never meant to say that all of these things were happening to me right now, or that I was still quite so abject. I am not. I am reasonably normally lower working class. I am exhausted and poor and can’t make all my bills all the time but I reconciled with my parents when I got pregnant for the sake of the kids and I have family resources. I can always make the amount of money I need in a month, it’s just that it doesn’t always match the billing cycles.

I am having trouble categorizing a woman who owns her own house (apparently assisted in this by her parents) as "lower working class."

Corrected: I wrote that she'd gotten $10,000 in donations. That was way wrong.

She got $100,000.

"Wlifully misread."

posted by Ace at 12:20 PM

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