AP article latest to mischaracterize Clinton comment on civil rights

An Associated Press article reported that House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn “expressed disappointment with Clinton after she said it took President Lyndon B. Johnson, a white politician, to finally realize King's dream of racial equality by signing the Civil Rights Act.” But that is not what Clinton said.

A January 15 Associated Press article reported that “House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn [D-SC] said Tuesday the Democratic Party needs to move past a recent dustup involving Hillary Rodham Clinton's comments about Martin Luther King Jr.” The article added: “Over the weekend, Clyburn expressed disappointment with Clinton after she said it took President Lyndon B. Johnson, a white politician, to finally realize King's dream of racial equality by signing the Civil Rights Act.” But that is not what Clinton said. She made no reference to Johnson's race, and she noted that Johnson accomplished what President John F. Kennedy had been “hopeful to do.”

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

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 15 AP report:

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Tuesday the Democratic Party needs to move past a recent dustup involving Hillary Rodham Clinton's comments about Martin Luther King Jr.

Clyburn, who was influential in getting this state of South Carolina the first Southern Democratic presidential primary, told reporters during a conference call that he still doesn't plan to endorse a candidate.

Over the weekend, Clyburn expressed disappointment with Clinton after she said it took President Lyndon B. Johnson, a white politician, to finally realize King's dream of racial equality by signing the Civil Rights Act, as well as former President Clinton's remark in New Hampshire about Obama telling a “fairy tale” in his opposition to the Iraq war.