Alex Constantine - May 25, 2008
By E&P Staff
May 25, 2008
NEW YORK Even as Hillary Clinton worked to defuse her Friday comment about the 2008 campaign and the Robert Kennedy assassination, a Fox New contributor went much further, joking about someone actually targeting Barack Obama.
Appearing on Fox News today, Liz Trotta, a former editor with the Washington Times and reporter the Chicago Tribune and Newsday, was asked by the host, Eric Shawn, about the Clinton controversy and the 2008 race. This led Trotta to refer to the Clinton misstep, in which she mentioned the RFK killing to show (the candidate later claimed) that previous campaigns, like the current one, went into June.
Trotta, according to video, replied, "And now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama, uh Obama. Well, both, if we could." She laughed.
The host, Shawn, clearly understanding how far she had gone, quickly commented: "Talk about how you really feel."
Then he continued: "But do you really think that--she didn't mean that she thinks that he going to get assassinated, and she apologized--
Trotta: "Well, that's beside the point, whether she meant it or not."
Shawn: "And she's just using it in a historical context?"
Trotta: "She's tone deaf, because it's a radioactive word. And the whole question of the first black man becoming a candidate for presidency of the United States has all kinds of overtones and all kinds of caveats that really have to be considered in this thing. And his security has been a real issue. He's had bodyguards earlier than anybody else. Surely this woman had to know that that was a third rail to say 'assassination.' And it's hard to argue for her on this, because it isn't the first time she's made this step."
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