Media Firestorm Over (Repeated) McCain Al Qaeda Gaffe? Hardly
NBC's Todd: "[H]ad Clinton or Obama done something like this, this would have been played on a loop, over and over"
Washington, DC - On March 18, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain made an admittedly false claim to reporters in Amman, Jordan, asserting that Iranian operatives are "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back" -- an assertion he made not just once, but twice, in the same press conference.
After Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who was with McCain, reportedly whispered something in his ear, McCain reportedly corrected himself, saying: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
But it wasn't the first time McCain made the same false statement. During an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt just one day earlier on March 17, McCain had said, "As you know, there are Al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq."
And how have the media responded? Has there been wall-to-wall coverage on this major foreign policy gaffe by a politician that claims to be "ready from day one," according to his campaign website? Hardly. As NBC News political director Chuck Todd observed, "[H]ad Clinton or Obama done something like this, this would have been played on a loop, over and over." Some reports even offered possible excuses for McCain. In a post on his Political Punch blog, ABC News' Jake Tapper wondered, "Jet lag?" after noting Lieberman's correction of McCain.
"It looks like that BBQ for the press paid off," said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters for America and a former staffer on McCain's 2000 presidential campaign. "What exactly is it going to take for the media to treat Sen. McCain like any other candidate rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt at every turn? If a progressive had made such a serious, repeated foreign policy gaffe one thing is clear -- you wouldn't be able to open the paper, let alone turn on the television or radio, without hearing about it."
When not brushing off the incident by making excuses for McCain, reports skipped the gaffe almost entirely, recasting the Arizona senator's remarks. Although he later reported that McCain "mistakenly said Tuesday that Iran was allowing al-Qaida fighters into the country to be trained and returned to Iraq," Associated Press writer Alfred de Montesquiou initially reported that McCain "voiced concern that Tehran is bringing militants over the border into Iran for training before sending them back to fight U.S. troops in Iraq, and blamed Syria for allegedly continuing to 'expedite' a flow of foreign fighters."
Similarly, a March 18 United Press International article reported that during the press conference, McCain "said concern still exists that Iran could be training Iraqi extremists in Iran then returning them to Iraq." In fact, McCain did not refer simply to "militants" or "Iraqi extremists"; he claimed that Iranian operatives are "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back" and, when pressed to elaborate, asserted that it is "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known" [emphases added] -- misstatements that Washington Post reporters Cameron W. Barr and Michael D. Shear wrote "threatened to undermine McCain's argument that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead a country at war with terrorists."
Media Matters for America is a progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
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Memo to the media: McCain's Al Qaeda-Iran gaffe not his first
Some in the media have echoed the McCain campaign's assertion that he simply "misspoke" when he said at a March 18 press conference that Iranian operatives are "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back." In fact, McCain made the misstatement twice during the press conference, and also made it the day before on Hugh Hewitt's radio show. Read More
AP, CNN ignored McCain's "gaffe" on Al Qaeda
The Associated Press reported that McCain voiced concern about Iran allegedly training "militants" and sending them to fight in Iraq, while CNN.com's Political Ticker reported that McCain had referred to "Iraqi extremists" being trained by Iran. In fact, McCain did not refer generically to "militants" or "Iraqi extremists"; he claimed that Iranian operatives are "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back" to fight U.S. troops in Iraq, a misstatement that Washington Post reporters Cameron W. Barr and Michael D. Shear wrote "threatened to undermine McCain's argument that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead a country at war with terrorists." Read More
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"The relationship between al Qaeda and Iran demonstrated that Sunni-Shia divisions did not necessarily pose an insurmountable barrier to cooperation in terrorist operations."
"USAMA BIN LADEN, the defendant, and al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with representatives of the government of Iran, and its associated terrorist group Hizballah, for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States."
Excellent post, gtskauai3556.
Is MM kidding with this post? McCain's so-called gaffe is minor, indeed, and the guy corrected himself almost immediately.
As far as his belief that the media would be playing this "on a loop, over and over" if this had been Obama or Clinton, NBC's Todd is 100% wrong.
The truth is that Obama has made several factual errors and gaffes on the campaign trail, and, true to form, the mainstream media has ignored almost all of them. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ...)
Has any candidate ever in history gotten a bigger pass and more fawning praise from the media than Barack Obama. By far he has!
NBC's Todd has no support for his claim at all.
MM is reeeeally stretching on this one.
Weak, MM. Weak, IMHO.
Shoes89,
I must disagree. When Obama referred to the Prime Minister of Canada as the President of Canada in an earlier debate, that was considered a gaffe indicative of his unripe foreign policy experience. An instance like that may very well have been a slip of the tongue. If, however, Obama continued to refer to the Prime Minister as President during that debate multiple times, and then also made the same mistake on a radio interview, and then his campaign issued a statement that perpetuated the misunderstanding, then it would be quite clear that Obama did not understand the difference between a President and Prime Minister.
Now add this to that hypo: imagine if that was that very misunderstanding (whether Canada was headed by a President or a Prime Minister) that had resulted in a $1 trillion war 5 years earlier; imagine if a Pentagon review of 600,000 pages of material concluded that Canada was in fact headed by a Prime Minister; and imagine if Obama continued to refer to the Prime Minister as President. That would be shocking indeed, and very worthy of news coverage.
When was he undermining Bush and the GOP? You mean, when he was out there campaigning for GW Bush? Or when he was toting the war line for GW Bush? McCain is a Bush lackey as much as the next guy. He disagreed with him on a few things, but not too many. Comprehensive illegal immigration reform, McCain was on board with Bush, and so on and so forth.
That being said, I have seen this story in several different places (NPR, CBS last night, and NBC, as well as my local news). It's getting coverage, and it really is much about nothing. Same as Obama's Pastor's comments.
Those of you who keep saying Obama is getting fawning praise in the media, have you been asleep for the last month? Apparently so.
Please check back on the Sunday shows. McCain was on all of them one week and he said the same thing. I think it was "Meet the Press". I couldn't believe what I heard (McCain confused ?) and Russert did not say a word or challenge him in any way.
djr
Ohio
If the issue is JUDGEMENT ... and it IS, according to many flogging the Rev. Wright's comments as they try to tar Obama with them ... then this "gaffe" is a billboard about how McCain is as wrong in his JUDGMENT as Bush has been about everything from terrorist threat in the first place (he did NOTHING prior to 9/11 to bolster America's protection) to Saddam having WMD's (Saddam did not have them).
It's not so much that McCain can be as WRONG in his judgment as Bush; it's that McCain will be as likely to ACT on his misjudgments as Bush has been. And it will be BAD judgment leading to BAD policy, which will have horrendous consequences for America.
Especially in light of the Bush Administration's continuous "GETTING IT WRONG" throughout the prosecution of their Iraq War, this lack of JUDGMENT on McCain's part DISQUALIFIES him from the Presidency. This nation simply cannot afford ANOTHER clueless, arrogant, and warmongering president, convinced of his own righteousness.
This is not a "small gaffe", this is a VERY BIG DEAL, and it's decisive as to McCain's qualifications to be president; HE IS NOT.
The vast majority of voters do not follow the issues very closely. They will vote on perceptions that are shaped by the media. Until McCain gaffs reach critical mass they will be ignored by the MSM.
On the other hand the right wing press will parse each and every statement by Hillary or Barack. Obama’s Rev Wright speech is being taken apart word by word by right wing kooks. Their distortions and out of context interpretations will be spread by Fox, Rush and the rest in short order. You can bet that Tim Russett or some other “moderator” will parrot their false premises as a basis for a discussion in the main stream. These tactics have been mastered by the right and are very effective in coloring the perceptions of Americans who are not closely following the truth. Many people still believe Obama is a Muslim, Vince Foster was murdered and Iraq has something to do with 911 and have WMD.
Progressives need to combat these tactics. If we don’t we can look forward to more of the repub policies that have put this country on the road to ruin.
I have to agree with MMFA on this one. For a man whose hallmark is being a Very Serious Foreign Policy Expert, it seems very odd that he would be making the blatantly false statements MULTIPLE TIMES about Shia Iran training Sunni Al Qaeda members. That seems to be a pretty serious charge and I find it incredibly odd that no one follows up with questions such as 1. Are you stating the government of Iran is training Al Qeada? 2. What PROOF do you have of this? in response to this "gaffe". To make such dishonest statements over and over and not be called on it is very strange especially given McCain's record of making FALSE statements in the run up to the Iraq war to bolster support for that blunder. What is even more depressing is that the media fanboys refuse to challenge or correct McCain's repeated "gaffes" or lies.