David Paul Kuhn at RealClearPolitics wrote up a report about Gibb's Q&A at the WH press briefing yesterday. Kuhn reported that Gibb had claimed that closing the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, had been a “hasty decision.” But that's not what Gibbs said.
Asked by a reporter to clarify that comment, Gibbs quickly explained that he meant the decision made by the previous Republican administration to set up the detention center had been “hasty,” and that he was in no way suggesting the Obama WH had made a “hasty decision” to try to close it.
Said Gibbs:
“No, no, no, I'm sorry...Thank you for letting me clarify that before I go see the boss later this afternoon.”
So how did RealClearPolitics report it? RCP suggested it wasn't clear what Gibbs had really meant by his “hasty” comment:
So either the White House spokesman misspoke or said too much. That's for the public to decide. To some critics, Gibbs comment might evoke Michael Kinsley's famous political adage. Kinsley defined a gaffe in Washington as a moment when someone tells the truth.
Choosing not to believe Gibbs who clarified his comment and detailed exactly what he meant by the remark, RCP opted to play dumb in order to concoct a story.
Nice touch: RCP provides a video of Gibbs' “hasty decision” quote, but does not show the video of him clarifying his remark.
UPDATE: Here's Gibbs' initial response in full, to a question about whether the Obama WH had made a mistake in trying to close the Cuba detention center. In his response, Gibbs turned the question around the stressed that it was wrong to create that specific center in the first place:
It was a mistake to set up something what became a rallying cry for enemies around the world and to hope for so long that we could simply continue to perpetuate the theory of keeping detainees there while the courts ruled otherwise.
I don't doubt that the President -- and I think he'll say this tomorrow -- that we've made some hasty decisions that are now going to take some time to unwind. And closing Guantanamo Bay obviously is one of those decisions.
The second half of the answer did become a bit confusing because when Gibbs used “we” he was referring to the U.S. government, not the Obama administration.
That's why when given a chance Gibbs clarified his comments. But RCP pretends it can't decide what Gibbs really meant.
UPDATE: Of course, the right-wing blogs are picking up on RCP's dreadful reporting and crowing about how Gibbs admitted closing the center at Guantánamo Bay had been a “hasty decision.”