Did Glenn Beck set up Texas gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina?

Explosive information hit the radio airwaves today as it was revealed that Texas gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina appeared to confirm in an interview that she is a so-called '9/11 truther.' The interview was conducted by Glenn Beck on the radio.

Debra Medina, right, at a debate with Gov. Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison (AP Photo/Pool,LM Otero).

Immediately the Internet was burning up with quick responses both from Medina supporters and from those who jumped to the conclusion that the candidate had 'outed' herself as part of a movement which believes that the U.S. government had a hand in bringing about the terrorist attack on 9/11.

The transcripts of the interview seem to indicate that those who believe Medina is a 'truther' have been vindicated. However, the audio of the interview, as provided at the link in the first paragraph, seems to portray a slightly different angle.

Beck no doubt believes that Medina admitted to being a truther, as indicated by his follow-up questions and the comments he made on the air after the Medina interview.

Medina herself, however, maintains she admitted no such thing.

To be fair, listening to the audio of the interview seems to confirm Medina's contention. The interview was fast-paced with Beck often interrupting and appearing to overlook the fact that the candidate clearly stated she is not a 9/11 truther, although she admits that the movement has raised some good questions that need to be answered.

And when Medina seemed to indicate that she would not purge her campaign of truthers, if she found any, Beck immediately jumped to the conclusion that Medina 'is a truther.' At that point, the interview was over as Beck essentially wrote off Medina as a viable candidate.

Nothing in the interview indicates that Beck deliberately set-up Medina. His flaw was the sloppiness with which which he conducted the interview and the knee-jerk reaction of branding Medina as a truther.

Beck's question was a fair one. Citizens need to know if their candidates are truthers and why.

However, stating that some truthers have good questions that need to be answered is not tantamount to admitting being part of the movement. Stating that there is no truther litmus test for campaign workers is no indication that a candidate believes that the U.S. government perpetrated the 9/11 attack.

No doubt Medina could have answered Beck's questions more effectively. And Beck could have been much more professional in the manner in which he went about conducting this interview.

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