During a debate Thursday night against New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, GOP Senate challenger Scott Brown was accused by a debate moderator of bungling state geography, but the reporter has since apologized, admitting that Brown didn't get it wrong,
Fox News reported.
The initial exchange started after WMUR reporter James Pindell asked Brown what was going "right" and "wrong" in Sullivan County's economy.
Brown said ski tourism was of key significance to the area, but Pindell interrupted him suggesting he must be referring to the North Country.
"I'm talking about any place past Concord, actually," Brown said, defending his position.
But the reporter corrected him again, saying, "Sullivan County is west of Concord, it's not north of Concord, Senator Brown."
Democrats tried to make hay of the incident, posting the video on YouTube, providing more fodder for critics who have long said that the one-time Massachusetts senator has no business seeking higher office in the Granite State.
Brown later explained after the debate that he had visited a ski resort, Mt. Sunapee, in Sullivan County, which is northwest of Concord.
"It's northwest. I guess I should have been more specific," he conceded.
In the end, however, Pindell admitted Brown was correct and issued an apology on air.
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"I said that Sullivan Country was west of Concord, not north of Concord. The truth is, it's both. So on this point, Scott Brown was right, I was wrong, and I apologize to Scott Brown and to both campaigns," Pindell said.
During the debate, Shaheen didn't respond to the exchange, but the two clashed on a number of other issues, in particular, foreign affairs, immigration and Ebola,
The Hill reported.
Brown said the greatest threat posed to the United States right now is Islamist extremists such as the Islamic State (ISIS) and Boko Haram.
Shaheen drew a distinction. "I don't share my opponent's view that ISIS is going to cause the collapse of this country," she said, according to The Hill.
"Right now, we need to let the Iraqis, we need to let the Kurds, we need to let the people whose countries there do the fighting," she said when asked whether there should be American troops on the ground in Iraq.
Border security was also a topic raised in the debate, with Brown framing it as a national security issue.
On the question of the costs of securing the border, Brown said it was "irrelevant" because "the safety and security of our country is the most important thing."
He added that Americans should be concerned about the public health risks posed by the influx of illegal immigrants into the country who may be "carrying some type of disease or another."
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