CNN’s Don Lemon took on the unenviable — and apparently impossible — task of trying to wrench a truthful comment out of Debbie Wasserman Schultz last night. Lemon played DWS audio of her comments about Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, which contradicted her claim that the Washington Examiner’s Phil Klein misquoted her. Even faced with her own recorded words, DWS continued to insist that Klein misquoted her:
CNN’s Don Lemon: You accused the reporter of misquoting you, you said you didn’t say it. But then in the clip, you said it. And then you said ‘I categorically deny saying it’ — but there it is. How do you respond to that?
Debbie Wasserman Schultz: So Don, if you look at what the Examiner — which is a conservative blog site, so it’s not surprising that they would deliberately misquote me — and I’ll reiterate that they did deliberately misquote me. First, they took only the first line of what i said, and then they cut it off. And so you haven’t played the rest of what I said. And what they did was, they reported that I said that Republican policies were dangerous for Israel, and actually that’s what Ambassador Oren commented on. I never said that Republican policies are bad for Israel.
In fact, Klein never reported that DWS claimed Oren said Republican policies were dangerous for Israel.
The article never even mentioned the word “policy,” and the lede made it clear that DWS was talking about GOP criticism of Israel:
Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed on Monday that Israel’s ambassador to the United States has accused Republicans of being “dangerous” to Israel by criticizing President Obama’s record.
At the Examiner, Klein responds to DWS’s misstatements about his reporting. Journalists may not be able to get DWS to admit to any inaccurate statements — clearly Lemon gave it a solid try — but how can the media trust anything she says after watching her deny the truth so casually and so often?
UPDATE: Lemon had Klein on last night to answer DWS’s charges in person (video via Mediate):
Any chance this woman might lose in November? How ridiculous are the voters in her district?
pretty ridiculous
What about a "chance" that Wasserman Schultz is no longer invited to synagogue political forums, no longer given access to the heads of the major establishment Jewish organization, and no longer paid or even asked to speak before Jewish groups? Knowing well that too many American Jews long ago exchanged their moral and historical obligation to observe the 613 mitzvot for the obligation to pull the lever for the Democratic Party, I highly doubt it.
Nasal voice, horrible makeover. Where's a paper bag when you need it? nCalling her a hack is too generous. That said, keep up the good work as the ugly face of the Democrat party.
The funny thing is, she is so typical of women in the workplace. how can you blame her for being “normal”. It is not a Jewish thing, it is a female thing. This one refuses to play by men’s rules. Most women should, logically support her. She may very well be re-elected and advance.
Mental Illness. At this point, that is the only explanation for this.
This is truly hilarious, in a sad way. Or sad in a hilarious way. Debbie is lying through her teeth, lying like an old rug and her only defense, the one pioneered by the climate snake oil pushers like Jones, Mann, Gleick and now the Lewandowski character, is to bluster, double down on "the message," stare straight in your face…and lie some more. Truly psychopathic.
You just don;t understand. Truth as we have conventionally come to see it is simply a social construct. n nIt is not surprising that Republicans, lacking insight into the human condition (they even think corporations are 'people' – ha!), remain pedestrian, and conventional in their way of looking at things. n nDebra Wasserman-Schultz, as an acolyte of the Obama, is not so earthbound, and speaks to the larger truths that swirl all around us, but which some of the readers here are simply unable to sense, like deaf people at the symphony. n nAnother thing – all this focus on simple 'unemployment number's among you people, misses the larger, deeper issues surrounding our movement to the sunny uplands of a green economy. It is a similar failure of understanding of where we were, and where we are going. It takes time, TIME! Don't you see it? Percentages are for simpletons. CONCEPTS are what you people should be thinking about!
Well said, comrade. nAt first I thought I'd spotted a typo – "the Obama" – but then realized you nailed it perfectly.
Is democratic and republican party people? Time is not on our side we made a mistake of electing someone who is inexperience and no clue about the economy. He hires academics. He calls for a debt commission and refuse to do anything with their recommendations, put up a jobs committee and do not meet them for more than 6 months when the crisis is all about jobs. Doesn't push the senate for a budget since he took office. Came up with a budget which nobody voted for including his fellow democrats. How serious is he about taking care of business?
Mercury, like other heavy metals (e.g. lead) is a deadly neurotoxin. It was once used to cure felt from which hats were then made, and workers inevitably inhaled a lot of mercury vapor and suffered neurological/psychological effects as a consequence — hence 'Mad as a Hatter." n nThey were all crazy, everyone working in the hat factory was, and one almost sees the same thing with the American left today. They are all delusional…
"…how can the media trust anything she says after watching her deny the truth so casually and so often?" The media don't trust what they themselves say, so DWS is like one of their own. I honestly can't understand what Lemon was doing – why bother? It's not like his performance is going to convince any of us that he cares about truth.
I just cannot believe that this lady is what the Democratic party uses to act as the public face of their party? That to me is just absolutely incredible. Her communication skills are pathetic. It is like Joe Biden in drag.
"Israel has no greater friend than Obama" is DWS' chutzpah moment. nGuess DWS agrees that Ramat Shlomo and Gilo are settlements, and that Jerusalem is not part of Israel. n
Why all the fuss? When it comes down to telling the truth, for what GOOD reason might one NOT substitute for "Deborah Wasserman Schultz" any one of the following names: n n Nancy Patricia Pelosi n Harry Mason Reid n Charles Ellis Schumer n Richard Joseph Durbin n nSee a pattern yet? Perhaps these names will help: n n David Michael Axelrod n Rahm Israel Emanuel n Valerie Bowman Jarrett n nHow about these? n n Robert Lane Gibbs n Eric Himpton Holder n Timothy Franz Geithner n Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius n Hilda Lucia Solis n Janet Ann Napolitano n Kenneth Lee Salazar n nOf course, I'm just getting started here: n n Soledad Teresa O'Brien n Edward Andrew Schultz n Rachel Anne Maddow n Christopher John Matthews n Paul Robin Krugman n nI could go on, but editing the available names so as to focus on really top-drawer liars is frankly exhausting. n nSo, time for the big finish: n n Michelle LeVaughn Obama n William Jefferson Clinton n Hillary Rodham Clinton n Barack Hussein Obama II n Tommy "SNL" Flanagan n Maxim Maximovich Litvinov n Paul Joseph Goebbels n nOops! I'm not implying that anyone's a Nazi, mind you. The rules clearly state that only Democrats get to do that.
Shame on you! What an insult to Nazis to compare them!
Bravo!!
Could this reporter be any more apologetic, no need to apologize ahead of time when asking a question especially when the interviewee is clearly caught in a lie.
If this doesn't prove Dems are disconnected from reality, what will?
Phillip Klein did a fine job in his interview with Lemon.