David Kranz goes after John Thune in his column today:
The controversy surrounding Sen. John Thune's remarks to a group of reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., continued Sunday, and it was John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who came to Thune's defense.
During his "Meet the Press" interview, host Tim Russert raised the issue, focusing on published comments in which Thune suggested Republicans distance themselves from President Bush on the Iraq War. Thune responded last week on a Fox radio station, saying his remarks were taken out of context.
In a transcript of the program, Russert says, "John Thune, the senator from South Dakota, Republican, who's in line to become the man who is in charge of keeping the Republicans in the majority in the Senate in the next election cycle, offered this observation, according to The Associated Press: 'If I were running in the state this year, you obviously don't embrace the president and his agenda.' He said the Iraq War is Bush's biggest problem. 'The first thing I'd do is acknowledge that there have been mistakes made,' he said."
Bolton responded this way: "Well, first of all, Senator Thune called me a couple of days ago, very concerned that his remarks had been mischaracterized. He expressed..."
Russert interrupted: "Wait, wait. We called The Associated Press. They stand by the story."
Said Bolton: "I understand."
Russert: "The Hill newspaper, another reporter in the same news conference, headlined, 'Senator Thune advises distancing the president from Iraq.' So if both reporters got it wrong, what are the chances of that?"
Bolton: "I'm telling you what Senator Thune called to tell me, which is that he was chagrined at the way his remarks were characterized and that he is a supporter of the president and his agenda."
First off, it was White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten who was on Meet The Press, not John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
More importantly, The Hill did back up the AP account. Here is some analysis from Mount Blogmore by Denise Ross:
However, there is a mitigating factor here.
Thune’s quote as reported in The Hill:
"You don’t obviously embrace at every opportunity the president or his agenda," Thune said.
Thune’s quote as reported by the AP’s Mary Clare Jalonick:
"If I were running in the state this year, you obviously don’t embrace the president and his agenda," he said.
Clearly Thune did not completely reject the agenda of President Bush. Rightly he said you do not embrace "at every opportunity".
John Thune is again a victim of the drive-by media where the truth is discarded in order to attack conservatives.
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