Clinton: I Made a Rare Error When I ‘Misspoke’ About Bosnia Sniper Threat
Saying she made a rare error, Hillary Clinton repeated Tuesday that she “misspoke” when she suggested she landed under sniper fire during a goodwill trip to Bosnia in March 1996.
Speaking to KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, the Democratic presidential candidate said it’s been a long campaign and this is the first time she has said the wrong thing.
“I have written about this and described in many different settings and I did misspeak the other day,” Clinton said during a live 10-minute interview. “This has been a very long campaign. … Last week for the first time in 12 years or so, I misspoke.”
Later in the day Clinton told reporters she disagrees with characterizations that she is pursuing a pattern of exaggeration.
“You know, I think that the military and the Secret Service did a terrific job. But we certainly did take precautions. There is no doubt about that, and I remember that very clearly,” she said. “So I made a mistake. That happens. It proves I’m human, which, you know, for some people, is a revelation.”
But the latest explanations have opened an opportunity for Barack Obama’s campaign to offer several recent examples of Clinton “misspeak,” including remarks at a Feb. 29 even in Waco, Texas, with retired Gen. Wesley Clark and remarks at a Dec. 29 event in Iowa, both detailing how she had to make a run for it on the tarmac at Tuzla Air Base to avoid sniper fire.
That claim was repeated during a speech last Monday on Iraq, in which Clinton said of the trip: “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”
The New York senator has since had to backtrack after a fact check and video revealed that rather than dodging hostile fire, the former first lady was greeted on the tarmac by an 8-year-old child and Bosnia’s acting president.
Clinton’s faulty memory was also corrected by the comedian Sinbad, who joined her on the trip and told The Washington Post he doesn’t remember any threats to their safety.
On defense, her campaign issued quotes from several newspaper articles at the time that conveyed that it was a military zone at the time of the visit and Clinton was surrounded by sharpshooters when she visited U.S. peacekeeping troops in Bosnia.
Daughter Chelsea Clinton also responded Tuesday while campaigning in Indiana to the claims of being under sniper fire, saying: “I think that my mother’s on record as having talked about this and I support what she said. I mean, I was there as well and I’m so honored that I was there.”
Hillary Clinton told the radio station that she does not believe the error will damage her credibility.
“The military took great care of us,” Clinton said Tuesday. “They were worried about taking a first lady to a war zone and took some extra precautions.”
Click here to hear the Clinton interview on KDKA.
Women of Hillary’s age starts the so called “Senior Moments” or Alzeimer’s disease. Shall we just attribute this lie to these reasons? If so, I wouldn’t want my President to be having Senior Moments so often (as she seems to be having so often right now because of the so many lies attributed to her).
If she (Clinton) believes that this was a spoken rare error, then obviously her definition of rare is WELL DONE!!!!
It is just another classic example of the modern day Liberal demeaning of what our troops have to go though in a war zone……..and she wants to be the Military Commander in Chief?
Plaudits to the Obama camp for making her squirm!!!
Looks to me like she was caught in a big lie. And when someone lies about something like this then we have to ask ourselves, what else has she lied about or will lie about? Her credibility is definitely lowered in my eyes.
Armonk, NY
Hillary shouldn’t have exaggerated the experience I agree. All candidates puff up their experiences - Obama too.
However, there is something very disturbing going on with Obama and his ties to the Trinity Church and his longtime friend and pastor, Rev. Wright. Hillary’s mistake doesn’t rise to the level of Obama’s allegiance to Wright.
Yea she mis-spoke… get off her back already. I mean come on haven’t we all forgotten the facts surround coming under sniper fire? I mean I forget those type of things all the time… I mean its just so common… you know?
She lied! So what’s to discuss?
I would still like to know why Fox occasionally shuts down the comment section, first of all, and then doesn’t say that it’s closed when it is. Is this some form of control of our free speech?
A lie is a lie is a lie. The Clinton’s wouldn’t know the truth if it hit them in the face. The lack of character exhibited by the Clintons is a sad commentary for our country, especially if Hillary is elected President.
I will admit that there are many times in my life that I have forgotten, or I remember it differently than others around me. That being said, I don’t know how anyone could forget being under fire. My father in law still ducks down in war movies, and he served in Korea.
I also find it insulting to our military and Secret Service. There is no way that the First Lady and the president’s teenage daughter would have been allowed to land in the middle of that.
We here in New Zealand have known for years Hillary Clinton ‘misspeaks’. When visiting New Zealand she stated that she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to conquer Mt. Everest. Sir Edmund conquered Everest in 1953, Hillary Clinton was born in 1947!!!
How can you have a President who lies?