KERRY STATEMENT DISTORTED TO PUSH FLIP-FLOP CLAIM
In their desperate efforts to paint Senator John Kerry (D-MA) as a serial
flip-flopper, President Bush's reelection campaign has resorted to gross
distortions of his public statements. The campaign is now trumpeting the fact
that Kerry, after voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq, described
himself "as an anti-war candidate."[1] The claim is based on a clip of
Kerry's 1/6/04 appearance on Hardball with Chris Mathews, which is featured
in a new 12 minute "documentary" on Kerry produced by the Republican National
Committee. This is how the RNC presents the interview:[2]
MSNBC'S CHRIS MATTHEWS: "Are you one of the anti-war candidates?"
KERRY: "I am - Yeah."
The real transcript of the interview reveals that the clip was doctored.
Kerry was not trying to shift his position but actually reiterating his
belief that President Bush made a mistake in the way he went to war. Here is
the actual transcript:[3]
MATTHEWS: Do you think you belong to that category of candidates who more or
less are unhappy with this war, the way it's been fought...Are you one of the
anti-war candidates?
KERRY: I am -- Yes, in the sense that I don't believe the president took us
to war as he should have, yes, absolutely.
SOURCES:
1. "Extreme Makeover Day 4 Fact Sheet: Setting the Record Straight",
BushCheney04.com, 7/29/04.
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=48493
2. "RNC Ad Backgrounder",DemsExtremeMakeover.com, 7/28/04.
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=48494
3. Hardball, Nexis-Lexis Transcript, 1/6/04
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