There isn't any known video that fits Fiorina's description at all, aside from videos of live fetuses with limbs moving outside of the womb. That's what we have to go on. Any video showing that could qualify.
This is clearly not true. A video showing a fetus outside of the womb moving its legs would match two of the features described by Fiorina ((1) intact fetus (2) kicking its legs). The video I've linked to matches five ((1) intact fetus (shown and described), (2) on a table (shown) (3) heart beating (described), (4) legs kicking (shown) (5) with someone saying they're going to procure its brain). It also comes from the CMP videos, which are the ones Fiorina was referring to.
Isn't the larger point that the anecdote was used by Fiorina to condemn Planned Parenthood for something that's not actually true? She was essentially saying "This video shows Planned Parenthood is using abortions to harvest baby parts! We must defund them to stop these atrocities!" But if the video's a hoax, it doesn't really matter if her description of it is accurate precisely because it's a hoax; you don't get off the hook for using falsified evidence just because you accurately described what the falsified evidence purported to be.
I guess if the point is she got snookered instead of outright intentionally lying, then I guess I can understand that, but she still has culpability for not correcting herself and/or doubling down. I agree with Meta regarding standards of proof in this case, I don't know whether she lied or got fooled, but she certainly hasn't made an effort to correct her position or acknowledge her mistake.
I agree Fiorina is making a mistake by not owning up to the fact that her comments at the debate were mistaken, and I'm not sure why. What the video actually includes is shocking enough.
However, I don't think Fiorina's misdescriptions are enough to discredit the claim that Planned Parenthood is harvesting baby parts from abortions. In fact, I think that point is incontrovertible (except you might complain about the word "harvesting").
I also don't think we can write off the entire video--or even the portion of it described by Fiorina--as a hoax, even assuming the baby-in-a-bowl footage was from a miscarriage. There's still the account of Holly O'Donnell (about procuring a brain from an intact fetus moments after observing his heart beating) to consider.
So new Republican ad says:
"There is a problem with this country and I am going to solve it! There is a leader who has created concentration camps and declared war on our European allies!"
Keep in mind that this is a leader (Hitler) who did these things, so what I'm saying isn't entirely inaccurate, because there exists a leader who did those things. You're defending statements that have been designed to be purposefully deceptive. It's like talking about a watermelon and describing it as small orange and round and then saying that description isn't entirely inaccurate because there are fruits that are small orange and round, just not that one. Moreover, I don't understand how defending her blatantly false statements at all does anything to improve the political discourse in this country.
You argue that what Fiorina purports to be describing is not what she is, in fact, describing. Implicitly, one would understand the Republican ad to be describing in the second sentence the leader identified as a current problem in the first sentence. And, one would expect someone who claims to be describing a watermelon to describe a watermelon, not an orange.
But the similarities between Fiorina's description and the video she was describing are greater than the similarities between Hitler and Obama or a watermelon and an orange (as you've described them). I've already listed the similarities concerning the video above. There
is no American leader who has created concentration camps and declared war on our European allies. So, of the three features alleged ((1) leader, (2) concentration camps, (3) declared war with allies), only one (namely, (1)) is satisfied. We do, indeed, have a leader--more than one, in fact! Likewise, a watermelon usually would only meet one of the features ascribed to it: though it is (1) round-ish, it is usually not (2) small, and it is never (so far as I know) (3) orange.
As for improving political discourse, I think it's better to give a fair and open-minded consideration to what politicians claim than to shut them out on the basis of an obvious falsehood. Do you disagree?
Meta's position is that she accurately referenced the video that she's basing these claims on (despite the claims being inaccurate).
No, my position is that Fiorina inaccurately described a video she nevertheless clearly referenced.
In addition to the quotes provided above you can look at this exchange with Chris Wallace where Fiorina is asked about a specific video that everyone, aside from you, thinks she is referring to and the candidate declines to clarify that.
You've got this backwards. I think she's referring to the video that Wallace is also referring to. The fact checkers cited by Wallace are also referring to that video. People in this thread are denying that Fiorina's comments corresponded to
any video.