Anti-Trump journalist David Corn took to Twitter on Tuesday to complain about “obscene” graffiti directed at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex (D-NY) at the Phoenix airport. Corn, who serves as the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for left-wing outlet Mother Jones, made it clear that he would not share a photo of the alleged obscene graffiti, which understandably ignited suspicions.
“I just spotted obscene anti-@AOC graffiti in a bathroom stall in the Phoenix airport. Yes, really. (Not going to post a photo of it.),” posted Corn Tuesday morning.
Things became even more suspect when Corn was confronted by the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The official Twitter for the airport said they had not seen such graffiti described by the journalist and asked Corn to direct them to it so it could be cleaned up. Corn ignored their request for hours and even blocked conservative writer Stephen Miller for asking him about the discrepancy.
“Hi David – would you mind telling us which terminal and concourse so we can let our Facilities team know?” the airport asked Corn.
And when asked if they had located the graffiti, they confirmed they had not:
Miller claims he was promptly blocked by Corn when he asked him about it, providing screenshots as proof of the encounter:
The waters only got more muddied from there. Corn responded to the airport in the morning and claimed the graffiti was written in black marker, which was able to be “wiped off.” How does he know this? Because he tried it himself. It’s unclear if Corn wiped off all the apparently wipeable graffiti. It’s unclear why he didn’t mention that at the start if he had. It’s unclear why he would leave it up if he did not wipe it off, which he seemingly suggested when he directed the airport to the location of the alleged graffiti so they could clean it. Many things, to put it mildly, remain unclear.
Over seven hours after he was first confronted by the airport, Corn replied, telling them the graffiti was spotted around noon near the United gate to Houston, Texas. At this point, Corn made no mention of the graffiti being removable by touch.
The airport responded: “Thanks for the follow-up. Our Facilities team checked the restrooms in the area last night, and although they didn’t find anything, those restrooms are checked and cleaned several times a day.”
“It was in black marker that could be wiped off,” Corn finally told the airport. “I know because I tried. Follow me and I can DM a pic. Thanks.”
The Daily Wire asked the Phoenix airport on Wednesday morning if Mr. Corn had sent them a photo of the alleged graffiti as he said he would.
The airport told us: Mr. Corn “gave us the information as to where to look for the graffiti and we did follow up with our custodial staff.”
For further clarification, we asked if the airport could confirm that Mr. Corn did not send a photo (as he said he would) and that their staff, to their knowledge, did not see the graffiti he described. The airport responded: “we did have our custodians check the restrooms in Terminal 2 and they let us know that they did not find anything. That doesn’t mean something wasn’t cleaned up earlier in the day.”
The Daily Wire has followed up and is still waiting on confirmation that Corn sent them a photo of the alleged graffiti. We will provide updates as they come in.