Gibson misquoted Clinton on civil rights

Summary: John Gibson, purporting to quote Sen. Hillary Clinton verbatim, actually misquoted her comment on the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s. Gibson stated: "Clinton is being attacked by [Sen. Barack] Obama for recently saying that the legendary Martin Luther King's dream of equality was one only -- quote, 'only realized when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.' " In fact, Clinton did not use the word "only."

On the January 14 edition of Fox News' The Big Story, while introducing a segment on "the issue of race" in the Democratic presidential primary, co-host John Gibson, purporting to quote Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton verbatim, actually misquoted her January 7 comment on the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s. Gibson stated: "Clinton is being attacked by [Sen. Barack] Obama [D-IL] for recently saying that the legendary Martin Luther King's dream of equality was one only -- quote, 'only realized when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act' " [emphasis added]. In fact, Clinton did not use the word "only"; she stated that "Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

Following is Clinton's full quote, which numerous news outlets have truncated recently:

CLINTON: I would point to the fact that Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the president before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done. That dream became a reality. The power of that dream became real in people's lives because we had a president who said, "We are going to do it," and actually got it accomplished.

From the January 14 edition of Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson and Heather Nauert:

GIBSON: Next up is South Carolina, where Clinton and Obama are locked in an increasingly heated battle for black voters. The issue of race has just been pushed into the forefront of their campaigns. Clinton is being attacked by Obama for recently saying that the legendary Martin Luther King's dream of equality was one only -- quote, "only realized when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act."

—L.K.A.