It ain't going away. Now he says he was misquoted. From Human Events:
>>"Kerry told about 50 Florida donors over coffee and muffins that their anger at Bush was shared not only by Americans but by political leaders abroad. 'I've met with foreign leaders, who can't go out and say this publicly, but boy they look at you and say, 'You gotta win this, you gotta beat this guy, we need a new policy,' things like that,' Kerry said. He did not identify the leaders in question..."
--The Boston Globe,
March 9, 2004
"There's a wide range of leaders that he has relationships with, that he talks to, and I am just not going to help divulge any kind of private conversations."
--Kerry Spokesman David Wade,
asked to list the world leaders
Kerry had met with in the past year or so.
The White House Bulletin,
March 9, 2004
"In terms of who he's talked to, we're not going to discuss that."
--Kerry Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter
The Washington Times,
March 12, 2004
"I don't know what foreign leaders Sen. Kerry is talking about. . . . But if he feels it is that important an assertion to make, he ought to list some names. If he can't list names, then perhaps he should find something else to talk about."
--Secretary of State Colin Powell
"Fox News Sunday,"
March 14, 2004
"I have had conversations with a number of leaders in the course of the last two years, up until the present moment, and I'm not going to betray the confidences of those conversations. But I have had conversations with leaders. . . . I'm not going to tell you who they are. . . . What I said was that I have heard from people who are leaders elsewhere in the world who don't appreciate the Bush Administration approach and would love to see a change."
--Sen. John Kerry, responding to a voter
at a Bethlehem, Pa., town meeting. CNN,
March 14, 2004
"That's none of your business. "
--Sen. John Kerry, responding to a voter
at the Bethlehem, Pa., town meeting who asked him
who the foreign leaders were. Associated Press,
March 14, 2004
"But it is our business when a candidate for President claims the political endorsement of foreign leaders. At the very least, we have a right to know what he is saying to foreign leaders that makes them so supportive of his candidacy."
--Vice President Dick Cheney,
March 15, 2004
"I'm talking about people who were our friends nine months ago. I'm talking about people who ought to be on our side in Iraq and aren't because this administration has pushed them away."
--Sen. John Kerry, responding to reporters
who pressed him to name the foreign leaders.
Associated Press,
March 15, 2004
"Questioned by reporters, Kerry declined to say what rank or position the people he met with held, describing them only as 'people at different levels.'"
--The Washington Post,
March 15, 2004
"I think the quote, the quote in the comment I made publicly, I believe, was that I 'heard from,' that's the direct quote. I've likewise had meetings. I've also had conversations. I said I've heard from, that was what I believe I said."
--Sen. John Kerry, apparently disputing that he
"met" with foreign leaders.
The New York Times,
March 15, 2004
"I'm not making up anything at all. . . . I stand by my statement."
--Sen. John Kerry, Associated Press,
March 15, 2004
"If you're going to make an accusation in the course of a presidential campaign you ought to be able to back it up with facts."
--President Bush, laughingly answering a question
about Kerry's claim to have met with foreign leaders
who backed Kerry's campaign,
March 16, 2004
"Because of poor audio quality on a reporter's tape recording, the exact quote by Senator John F. Kerry regarding comments from foreign leaders about his candidacy was incorrectly transcribed in an article that appeared in the nation pages on March 9 and in a page one story yesterday. The correct Kerry quote is: 'I've been hearing it, I'll tell ya. The news, the coverage in other countries, the news in other places. I've met more leaders who can't go out and say it all publicly but, boy, they look at you and say, 'You gotta win this, you gotta beat this guy, we need a new policy'--things like that. So there's an enormous energy out there. Tell them, wherever you can find an American abroad, they can contribute."
--The Boston Globe,
correcting Kerry's original quote
March 16, 2004
"But the campaign said Monday that the Globe's clarification demonstrates some ambiguity about what Kerry meant. His reference to 'more leaders' said Kerry's spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, 'could mean anybody.' The media's repeated references to 'foreign leaders' allowed critics to suggest he was talking about heads of state. 'He was misquoted,' said Cutter. 'Had he not been misquoted, this wouldn't be a story.'"
--The Los Angeles Times,
March 16, 2004<<
humaneventsonline.com |
