During the April 6 edition of Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace falsely suggested that Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean called Sen. John McCain a “blatant opportunist” for discussing his military experience. Only moments after correctly quoting Dean stating that McCain is “a blatant opportunist who doesn't understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years,' ” and showing text of that portion of Dean's quote on the screen, Wallace asked Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): "[D]o you think that John McCain was an opportunist when he was supporting the troop surge, when no one else in the Congress was supporting the troop surge? Do you think John McCain was an opportunist when he refused to take early release from a North Vietnamese prison camp because he was the son of an admiral because he said he was going to stay there for years as well as all the other Americans did?" Kerry replied: “Chris, please, I think you almost insult my intelligence and my values and those of every American. Nobody ever would insinuate that John McCain is anything but a hero for his activities in -- in --.” Wallace then interrupted Kerry, stating: “Well, Howard Dean called him a blatant opportunist,” suggesting that Dean called McCain an opportunist because he discussed his military experience. In fact, Dean said nothing of the sort.

Rather, in a March 28 statement, Dean said:

The American people have been waiting for a president who understands the challenges they face, not another out of touch Bush Republican who promises four more years of the same failed leadership. John McCain can try to reintroduce himself to the country, but he can't change the fact that he cast aside his principles to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Bush for the last seven years. While we honor McCain's military service, the fact is Americans want a real leader who offers real solutions, not a blatant opportunist who doesn't understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years.

As Media Matters for America has documented, several Fox News hosts -- including Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson, Live Desk host Martha MacCallum and America's Election HQ co-host Megyn Kelly -- have distorted Dean's criticism of McCain, echoing a March 29 statement from RNC chairman Robert Duncan that falsely accused Dean of “stating that Senator McCain is a 'blatant opportunist' for discussing his record of military service with the American people.”

From the April 6 edition of Fox News Sunday:

WALLACE: A few days ago, Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said this about John McCain, and let's put it up on the screen. He called him “a blatant opportunist who doesn't understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years.” You complain about Republican attacks on you back in 2004. What do you think about Howard Dean calling McCain a “blatant opportunist”?

KERRY: Well, I honestly don't know what he was referring to or where that comes from. I'm not going to sit here -- I mean, the key issue here --

WALLACE: Do you think he's a blatant opportunist?

KERRY: No, I -- look, I think John McCain has taken positions in the course of trying to win the Republican nomination, whether it's the reversal and flip-flop on the intolerance with respect to Jerry Falwell and others, or whether it's the Bush tax cuts flip-flop, or whether it's this flip-flop now on the issue of Iraq, or whether it is, you know, global climate change where he has not yet signed on to Joe Lieberman and John Warner's bill. There is a clear indication of a nomination John McCain versus the Senator John McCain.

WALLACE: Well, Senator, with all due respect, I mean, every politician -- frankly, including you -- have been accused of flip-flops over the years, but do you think --

KERRY: Yeah, but --

WALLACE: -- if I may, do you think that John McCain was an opportunist when he was supporting the troop surge, when no one else in the Congress was supporting the troop surge?

KERRY: No, I don't --

WALLACE: Do you think John McCain was an opportunist when he refused to take early release from a North Vietnamese prison camp because he was the son of an admiral because he said he was going to stay there for years as well as all the other Americans did?

KERRY: Chris, please, I think you almost insult my intelligence and my values and those of every American. Nobody ever would insinuate that John McCain is anything but a hero for his activities in -- in --

WALLACE: Well, Howard Dean called him a blatant opportunist.

KERRY: Well, I think he's referring to what's happened in the period of time, I assume, with respect to the nomination. I mean, I just referred to several major reversals. Now, you know, come back to what you just said about me, et cetera. You know, the one -- the one reversal that the Republicans tried to play with my vote against an amendment that I had voted for it because I wanted pay for the war. That was a vote of principle. When the Senate refused to pay for the war and the Senate refused to demand a plan from the administration, out of principle I said, “I'm not going to vote for that.” They tried -- that was not a flip-flop. That was a vote of principle. Now, you'll have to have to explain to me how voting for the Bush tax cuts after you've voted against them is not a change, a fundamental change from principle --

WALLACE: Senator, we're -- if I may, we're running out of time, but I want to ask you about new events.