Clinton: "As Far As I Know" Nothing To Base Obama Muslim Rumor On

Huffington Post:

Ben Smith at the Politico writes:

A weird moment of TV, partially captured in the clip above. Clinton denies she thinks Obama's a Muslim, but her denial seems something other than ironclad, and the interviewer goes back at her on the question.

There are real danger zones for even hinting this stuff, even leaving yourself open to uncharitable interpretations, more with Obama than with any other politician I can think of. And expect a lot more of these moments if he's the nominee.

Here's the full "60 Minutes" exchange, in CBS's version:

"You don't believe that Senator Obama's a Muslim?" Kroft asked Sen. Clinton.

"Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that," she replied.

"You said you'd take Senator Obama at his word that he's not...a Muslim. You don't believe that he's...," Kroft said.

"No. No, there is nothing to base that on. As far as I know," she said.

"It's just scurrilous...?" Kroft inquired.

"Look, I have been the target of so many ridiculous rumors, that I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, smeared with the kind of rumors that go on all the time," Clinton said.

Read the whole story: Huffington Post

Comments

[Boboday555]

When Senator Clinton, who would have made a formidable President, will looks back at her failed White House bid I hope she sees it was probably that childish "As far as I know" comment!
She could have shown Presidential class last night, class that would have won my vote, and just come right out and told America Senator Obama has been a Christian his whole life!
But no, she chose instead to engage in the Bush/Cheney brand of politics!

Sorry Senator Clinton, in case you or your campaign staff aren't paying attention, real Americans are sick and tired of those kind of childish games.

You just lost my vote Senator.

[Boboday555]

Senator Clinton's answer to the lie of Senator Obama being a Muslim is why I will not be voting for her on Tuesday!
"As far as I know."
Come on Senator Clinton, unless you haven't been paying attention for the past 7 years but real Americans are sick and tired of those sophmoric political games!!!

Senator Clinton, you had my vote right up to that embarrassing Bush/Cheney type momen last night.
I thought you would have made a formidable President.­..not anymore!

[Reeceecup]

I keep trying to give Hillary the benefit of the doubt, but she always finds some way to disappoint me.

[ladygreenslippers]

For me too.
i keep saying, well ...maybe.
But time and again, politically, The Clintons, including HRC is really NOT what this country wins right now.
The rest of the world is moving on, what's wrong with us?!

[Bozwellian]

DIfficult to keep attempting to give the Clintons some room for "doubting" their team is NOT part of the "smears"..­.has happened too often now since Iowa especially to give plausibility to their claim of NOT and most especially when one LISTENS to them in their OWN words/wordings and even when they use their "scripts" ...Awhile back, an off the cuff insidere admitted that those in the Clinton team HAD studied up on Rover, found him great at winning and his expertisement at winning , especially down and out races, remarkable ..admitted to "admiration", indicated much to learn from ROve....an­d it does appear they have honed the skills that the Clintons first learned in ARK. from Dick Morris who taught Hillary that WINNING was the only thing that counted and so was worth ANY cost to secure that win !!! ) Sorry, am so OVER the Clintons, been there, had to endure ALL that back then and do NOT want another round for the next four years, will roll the dice, if Obama secures the nomination if not, the Clintons will still NOT get this vote and same goes for many in these parts !!!!

[joja]

Well, Hillary, if it's true that you don't know where the "Muslim rumor" got started, maybe it proves that you're so out of touch that you're disqualified as a prez contender.

The Clintons are soooo obvious! First, they put out the slime, then express faux-surprise that it's out there, and issue an absurd statement like this!

I guess they really believe everyone is as gullible as their most rabid supporters.

[CharlottesvilleVA]

There she goes again, equivocating and parsing. As far as she knows? Well, as far as I know she's not a member of the Communist Party. I cant' believe she missed a chance to both end that discussion and tout her own alleged (but now clearly disproven) "above the fray" campaign by saying "Of course he isn't a Muslim. But you know, this campaign isn't about religion, gender, or color, it's about health care for all Americans.­" But no, it's definitely to her favor to have a certain part of the electorate believe that Obama is a Muslim, doesn't know the National Anthem, and is doing abortions on his off days.

[SadButWiser]

Wow, has the word Muslim become the word Jewish of early century Germany?

[boonagain]

As far as I know, I used to be a fan of the Clintons, but , since the SC primary, I've seen sides of them I hadn't noticed before.

This latest example is typical and very unappealing.

We Democrats can do better than this.

I just wish she had been fighting Bush this hard for the last 7 years.

[ladygreenslippers]

"I just wish she had been fighting Bush this hard for the last 7 years."

Excellent point!

[goldman]

DOES ANYBODY REALLY KNOW WHAT RELIGION OTHER PEOPLE BELIEVE IN???..WHY IS CLINTON EVEN ASKED THE QUESTION,,THATS FOR OBAMA TO ANSWER,,,,,HIS FATHER WAS A MUSLIM AND IF HE IS ASHAMED OF IT THEN MAYBE HE SHOULDN'T RUN FOR HIGHER OFFICE....­.WHY IS THIS NOW CLINTONS PROBLEM?????????

[snkscore]

Because it was one of her staffers who leaked the photo of Barack during his visit to Kenya, and because if she was a real leader she could just answer the question instead of dancing around it trying to scare the stupids out there.

[bluestatelib]

Stop screaming chump.

[Groobiecat]

Whoa, hold on there, Mr. Caffeine..­.here are the facts (without the shouting):

1) Barack's father left home when he was two years old

2) Barack is not now, nor has he ever been a Muslim (not that this should be an issue anyway)

3) The reason it's Hillary's problem is because a key supporter of hers, former Sen. Bob Kerry of Nebraska *made* it an issue: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/17/madrassa-bob-kerrey/

Eventually Kerry apologized, but his little trick was already laid out in public. Well done, Clinton camp! You'd do Uncle Rove proud...

[Gogetter]

It's obvious that the rumor concerning Obama being a Muslim is being circulated by bigots in order to ilicit a bigoted, ignorant, and fearfull reaction. It's not an insult to Obama, it's an insult to Muslims. Sen. Clintion's tepid answer is an obvious indication of her desire that the question remain open for the sake of her campaign. She doesn't necessariy have the ability to settle the question, but where's the "denoucement" and "rejection" of such a blatantly bigoted tactic.

[snkscore]

"Sen. Clintion's tepid answer is an obvious indication of her desire that the question remain open for the sake of her campaign."

EXACTLY

[batmanindy]

Hillary answer was just fine. obama will be crushed by McSham in the general election. Thereis still time people of America. Ohio! Texas! Let's give Hillary the victory she needs and deserves!

A Clinton/obama ticket is a winner in the fall. Any ticket with obama on the top loses. It is fine for you fanatics on this site and others to be wild-eyed crazy for oabam. The problem is though that most people who vote are not wild-eyed fanatics. When crunch time hits in November, most people look for maturity, wisdom,faith and then hope.

Hillary is the candidate to deliver the win in November.

[jcwtts1]

Yeah,

We have seen how well people do talking about experience after putting us in Iraq. All the experience in the world doesn't help you if you are consistently wrong.

J

[joja]

bat --

In your dreams!

[Micaanab]

You seem to be the wild eyed fanatic. Your candidate is loosing against a junior senator. And you feel she can win against a senator that actually does have the experience of at least 35 years.
Obama gets the voters out. In order for the democrats to win they need more than the democratic voters. We saw what happened in 04. You need independents and new young voters.

[Boboday555]

Oh please...I could beat McCain in a debate and I wasn't the Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Senator Obama will make McCain look like the party politcal hack he really is.
I can't wait for McCain to lose his temper again as he does every time things don't go his way.

McCain is a puppet and, Obama will cut his bought and paid for strings!

[glorija]

bamanindy,

Senator Clinton's response is shameless. I am appalled by her campaigning and ashamed that the first viable female candidate for the US presidency is without any principles.

[boycottrightwingthings]

I don't get the anger and vitriolic comments against Senator Clinton. She said NO, she doesn't believe that he is a Muslim. How does she deserve the attacks against her on this board? I saw someone said that they will vote for Nader if she gets the nomination, right here on this link. Well giving your vote to Nader is giving John McCain the presidency. I think it is disgusting, and what you are saying to ME with that stupid statement is, if Borak Obama is the one nominated, I shold vote for Nader. It works two ways, only I am not that stupid. At this tme, I will vote for Borack if Hillry doesn't get the nomination, because I am not as stupid as some people here on this board. There is a LOT of sexism here against Hillary, and it is uncalled for!! I can always change my mind, but I am smart enough to know that I DO NOT WANT another 4 years of Bush, which is what you get with McCain! That is what you get if you vote for that idiot Nader! So STOP PICKING ON HILLARY ALREADY! Don't be babies if she gets the nomination. She has EXPERIENCE. She would make a great president! Stop twisting her words!!

[cheforacle]

I have read that certain Hillary supporters, too, have said that they would vote for Nader instead of Obama in the general. Both groups are mistaken but don't paint the whole group (literally millions of Obama supporters by that same brush. We should not do that with the good Hillary supporters either.

[langstonhughesfan]

If you couldn't see the insidiousness of her response, then there's no helping you. She said, "I take him at his word..." That was a TERRIBLE RESPONSE! That's the response you give when you KNOW the other person is guilty, but you don't want to say it. That's what friends of Barry Bonds say. That's the response you give when you want to say to voters..."­Hey, look, I don't know about him, but I need to give the politically correct answer here." And voters KNOW THIS. She was PATHETIC last night. I really believe she is the absolute worst thing for our party. She simply WILL NOT beat McWar, and she's perfectly happy trashing the party and taking us all down with her. She would be the president whom all the women who support her now would say in a 2-3 years..."W­hat was I thinking????!!!!" She would be the president that people will one day be ashamed to admit they voted for. Just like right now, you can't find a single person that voted for Bush. Hillary will be that president. When Bill is running around saying and doing as he pleases, and when she's unable to get anything acomplished, the women in NH and now perhaps in OH and TX who FEEL SORRY FOR HER NOW, will be sorry later! And I'm a woman, so this is not a gender bash. I'm just amazed at the pity, sympathy votes she gets.

[prscnt1]

Stop whining...

Hillary had to say nothing, but the whiners like her (and you) can't stop!

Bush kisses Muslim men! (Analyze this!)

[Wigglesworth]

I really wish you would rethink what you said about Ralph Nader. He doesn't STEAL or SPOIL elections. There is no chance on God's green earth that he will become president, and people who vote for him know that. They vote for him because they do not wish to vote Republican or Democrat. It is completely legitimate to use your vote as a protest. It's YOUR vote and if you want to use it to vote off the grid, then you have the right to do so.

[ampay]

If you're going to slam other people for being stupid, at least learn to spell Barack Obama.

[UncleLiberal]

I like waffles, you know, they're tasty. Especially when they are still warm.


I cannot believe the scrutiny that goes into everything Hillary says or does...the­re comes a time when you need to just step back and look at the grand scale and not the details. It's not a new concept people...f­orest/tree­s, nose/face.­...familia­r? It is like you are trying to over compensate for electing that arsehole twice but what good does it do if you let the pendulum swing so far out of control that you can't stop it?

[jcwtts1]

Are you kidding. No one is compensating, though Hillary's new campaign is make up for Bush. We're writing here about her choice to not kill a rumor she knows to be demonstrably false. If Obama were asked if Hillary Clinton were a child molester he could ostensibly give the same answer. I take her at her word that she is not. or No, as far as I know. Are you serious with his bs. Grow up, pay attention, and see how Out of hand she is.

J

[IkeChicago]

Win at all cost Hillary was implying that Obama might be a Muslim, but she had no evidence either way. All she knows is that Barack Obama says that he not a Muslim, she wasn't about to dispell the rumor that Obama is a Muslim.

[butchie65]

Isn't it amazing how ,"honored," she was to run against him. Then she throws him under the bus with her lies. I'm afraid McCrazy will get it. People are calling in to C-Span saying they will vote for her and then McCrazy in November, "Thanks, Rove ! Hillary has the same morals as Rove, none !

[Najam]

For those who think that if a lot of people love somebody he should be made a President then they should also find him an island where he does not have to work with anyone, simply rule, and "change" as he wants, please spare us.

Following is what I found at the website of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR);

"Rep. Keith Ellison said Wednesday that attempts to insinuate that Barack Obama is Muslim won't have any effect on the presidential candidate, arguing that Americans won't fall for such a "bigoted" appeal.
Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim member of Congress, also said he has no doubt a Muslim could be elected president.
"It's a deliberate attempt to associate him with things Islamic," Ellison said of the use of Obama's middle name.
Obama's father and stepfather were Muslim, and he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, a largely Muslim country — but Obama was not raised Muslim.
"Assuming that the American public is bigoted, and infused with religious bigotry against Muslims, is incorrect," Ellison said.
And he insisted that a Muslim could become president.
"Look, we elected a Catholic," Ellison said. "Mitt Romney was a viable candidate in this race. I don't think that his decline had to do with him being Mormon." Romney, a GOP candidate, dropped out of the race earlier this year.
"So I think that certainly America could elect a Muslim president," he said. "America could elect a woman president. I think we probably are going to elect a black president. And we'll all be better for it."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which fights anti-Muslim bigotry, said he agreed with Ellison.
"There clearly is a level of anti-Muslim attitude in our society, but I think it's still a minority," he said. "It's a vocal minority, but it's still a minority. The majority of Americans respect people of all faiths, and I think while taking faith into consideration, it would not be the main factor in their voting." (End Quote)

There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, but lying, decetion, concealing and getting irrated about the truth is a major sin in Islam.

Whether he was raised as a Muslim or not, makes no difference, according to Islam if your seed comes from a Muslim father, you are a Muslim. That is the case with all religions.

Anytime I see Mrs. Angry Obama I run in the other direction, why to put a spin and call wolves? Accept what you are and move-on.

On one hand he says that the Super delegates must not over-rule the writ of the people and on the other does not want Florida and Michigan delegates be allowed to vote at the convention. What a flip-flop, what happened to the writ of millions of Folrida and Michigan voters? Oh' I forget Mr. Obama did not win those states. Well, smile Mr. Obama, your friendly Republican Governor is suggesting that he will accept a "new Democratic primary" in Florida!! For both of them, why not turn the clock even further say like 2000?

We are not a Kingdom, Sheikhdom or an Empire where one man drives the whole country. Very recently it was tried by Pervaiz Musharraf of Pakistan and by the Kenyan President, it did not work there and out of question here in USA. Our President even President-Elect works with the Congress. Mr. Obama's rhetoric of change is so vague and far away from the 2+2.

He also talks about absorbing Republicans in his cabinet, how about taking Lieberman as your running mate, Mr. Obama? Did you consider McCain, yet? Wouldn't that be nice if after the conventions McCain and Obama become each others side-kick and save us a lot of money by sparing tax payers's money in the general elections? Wouldn't that be a real change? May be then we will have some money to at least fulfill one of the "promises" of Mr. Obama as the rest of the promises would require money that China may not want to give us. Why risk! Resolve!

Oh' yes, he is against the Iraq war resolution because he was not in senate when it was passed. But willing to attack Pakistan on "credible intelligence" did not his Republican friend Bush and his cousin Cheney got involved in Iraq on the same "credible intelligence", I am shocked Mr. Obama's Incredible Intelligence" and majority of the supporters "incredible arrogance".

The millions of dollars he spends on TV adds and calling everybody a divisive but himself, how many families could have been helped, why you need so much money to prove your worth, if you are already loved by the whole world????

Regards.

Najam

[UnrulyWoman]

Najam, I don't know where you're getting your information, but I just finished a fairly lengthy study of Islam, and in all of the books I've read, the requirement for becoming a Muslim is to confess the shahada, which translated into English is roughly "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God." Just being born to a Muslim parent does not make one Muslim, and certainly, if Senator Obama was truly a Muslim, he could not be coerced to confess the Christian faith, which he has over and over again.

The rest of what you're saying just made no sense to me, so I can't respond. But please stop spreading inaccurate and misleading information about Islam.

[weinbob]

I immediately reacted negatively to her "as far as I know" phrasing. Yes John McCain provided a sharp and clear answer to same question - someone should post the two videos and let people compare.

It is still early in the morning on day before election: Will Hillary Cry?
Prediction: NO - she thinks going on c omedy shows will substitute

If you are an OHIO Obama supporter I urge you to find Bill Clinton at a public press rally and display a large white sign with black letters which reads "SHOW US YOUR TAX RETURNS" and heckle the former president in the most polite way - "If you want our vote why doesn't the candidate release her tax records" and "promise the voters right here and now that your tax records will not reveal anything which fair minded Ohioans deserve to know before the election. This will have the potential to frame the evening news cycle and bring Clintons biggest negative back to the voters minds - EXACTLY WHO ARE THEY VOTING FOR AND WHAT IS BILL GOING TO BE DOING MOST AFTERNOONS IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

[lldem]

Last night while driving through southern Missouri, I happened to tune into a radio show where three republican commentators were discussing Sen. McCain's refutation of the 'Hussein' comments earlier in the week. In discussing the 'issue' these men stated that the name is Muslim; in point of fact, the name is Arabic (nationality not religious). And they did concede that Sen. Obama is a christian. But then I heard the most absurd b.s. to top it all, and I will quote: "That church he goes to, it's weird. It's some kind of quasi-christian, quasi-Muslim church". I can quote it because the comment was so outrageous and absurd, I don't think I can forget it. Sen. Clinton's passive/aggressive response to Kroft's question only lends support to this kind of pathetic slur against a fellow American and Democrat and she should be ashamed.

[TXFreedomFighter]

Scary! Being a diverse nation requires knowledge/­understand­ing of other cultures! No wonder so much of the world views us as lazy, dumb Americans.

[bluevillage]

Her answer was disgusting. I was shocked to hear her say this -- but at this point, I guess I shouldn't be. She will say anything.