"Misquoted, misrepresented, mis-everything," he told the Palm Beach Post. "If you saw the tape or were there, you'd be embarrassed for that (reporter)."

 

Samson said many of the quotes were taken out of context, and it appears at least some of them were. Samson's line about the people at the Beacon Council meeting (a group of local businesspeople) being "instantly in the top 1percent" was both a reference to charity work and a swipe at politicians, not the people of South Florida.

 

The broader context of his talk reveals that Samson was referring to the way (in his words) politicians "blow in the wind of constituents."

 

It does appear that some of his other comments were less than charitable, though. He may have been going for tongue-in-cheek when he said "We don't care if nobody comes," to the Marlins' new ballpark in Little Havana and "We'll play in front of nobody, and we'll have all the money."

 

Even taking into account that he may have been going for laughs, the comment does not make Samson come across as a terribly magnanimous person.

 

Samson does not have to apologize for quotes taken out of context, but he should think a little bit harder about his words before letting them fly out of his mouth. 

 

Samson told the Post he does not plan to ask for a retraction, saying, "I don't even consider it a newspaper so it wouldn't even occur to me. It's just the way the internet goes."