He did this intentionally. The only reason he is apologizing is because he got caught.
And it’s still true to 90% of the audience. Most won’t have seen this correction. This is how they operate. Air something false, then if your retract it all, do so in a far less dramatic way than the original false story.
“He did this intentionally.”
His show has editors. They certainly heard all of Barr’s words as the show was being pieced together.