ATLANTA—Following leaked audio of the white supremacist’s slur-filled 2017 tirade, CNN responded Monday to Richard Spencer’s comments by apologizing for not getting him to say those things while on the network. “We’re truly sorry Mr. Spencer wasn’t able to espouse his hateful, anti-Semitic rhetoric during our interview, which would have easily secured at least 48 hours of nonstop coverage about whether it’s okay to say such things,” said CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper, who begged for forgiveness for missing an obvious opportunity to provide a nice boost to the network’s ratings. “If we had known beforehand that this white nationalist believed that Caucasians are the one true race or about his commitment to using violence against minorities, we would have provided him with a much bigger platform and at least doubled the length of the broadcast. We really dropped the ball here, and we promise our viewers we will better frame all questions so they elicit this type of vitriol in future segments.” At press time, CNN vowed to make up for this misstep with a weeklong town hall debate comprised entirely of Holocaust deniers.

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