George Stephanopoulos, the chief anchor of ABC News, apologized on Thursday for not telling viewers or his bosses about $50,000 in recent donations to the Clinton Foundation.
Stephanopoulos, one of Bill Clinton’s closest advisers during Clinton’s first term as president, said he made the donations “in support of the work they’re doing on global AIDS prevention and deforestation, causes I care about deeply.”
“I thought that my contributions were a matter of public record,” he said in a statement. “However, in hindsight, I should have taken the extra step of personally disclosing my donations to my employer and to the viewers on air during the recent news stories about the Foundation. I apologize.”
Stephanopoulos’s statement was first reported by Politico and the Washington Free Beacon.
After stepping down from his White House post in 1996, Stephanopoulos gradually became one of the best-known television news hosts in the United States.
He is currently the co-host of ABC’s most lucrative news program, “Good Morning America,” and the moderator of the Sunday morning public affairs program “This Week.”
ABC immediately expressed support for Stephanopoulos when he apologized on Thursday.
“As George has said, he made charitable donations to the Foundation to support a cause he cares about deeply and believed his contributions were a matter of public record,” the network said.
“He should have taken the extra step to notify us and our viewers during the recent news reports about the Foundation,” the network added. “He’s admitted to an honest mistake and apologized for that omission. We stand behind him.”
