Politico’s Ben Smith reports…
Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday batted down rumors circulating on the Internet and mentioned on some cable news shows of the existence of a video of his wife using a derogatory term for white people, and criticized a reporter for asking him about the rumor, which has not a shred of evidence to support it.
“We have seen this before. There is dirt and lies that are circulated in e-mails and they pump them out long enough until finally you, a mainstream reporter, asks me about it,” Obama said to the McClatchy reporter during a press conference aboard his campaign plane. “That gives legs to the story. If somebody has evidence that myself or Michelle or anybody has said something inappropriate, let them do it.”
Asked whether he knew it not to be true, Obama said he had answered the question
Now it appears to me that Obama isn’t so much denying that his wife gave such a rant, but rather denying the existence of the video (which has yet to be released if it exists) and he’s also choosing to attack the messenger for daring to ask about it.
Now, I don’t know if the videotape exists. But, I’m wondering why Obama didn’t say “The tape cannot possibly exists because my wife never has made any comments like that.” But, it doesn’t appear from Ben Smith’s report that Obama made such a definitive denial. His response sounded more like a strategically crafted response a politician gives when they don’t want to lie just in case whatever they are trying to hide does become exposed.
Obama’s focus on attacking the messenger seems highly suspect.
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