Nick Timiraos reports from Pittsburgh on the presidential race.
President Bill Clinton lashed out Tuesday at a reporter who asked him about his comments Monday accusing the Obama campaign of playing the race card earlier this year in South Carolina.
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Former President Bill Clinton kisses his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, at a rally in Philadelphia, Monday. Photo: Associated Press
The off-message moment came as Clinton was campaigning on Primary Day in Pennsylvania for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is locked in a tough race for the Democratic nomination with Sen. Barack Obama.
On Monday, Clinton told a Philadelphia radio station (part of the interview is here) that Obama's campaign was "playing the race card on me" when he compared Obama's South Carolina win to Jesse Jackson's 1984 and 1988 victories. Clinton said the campaign had "twisted it for political purposes" as part of a deliberate effort to paint him as a race-baiter.
As the interview ended, Clinton turned to an associate, per ABC News , and said, "I don't think I should take any s— from anybody on that, do you?"
A reporter for NBC News asked asked Clinton about the comments Tuesday morning in Philadelphia. "Sir, what did you mean yesterday when you said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?"
Clinton didn't recall the comments immediately. "When did I say that, and to whom did I say that?"
Reminded that he had made the comments on WHYY radio, Clinton responded: "No, no, no. That's not what I said. You always follow me around and play these little games, and I'm not going to play your games today. This is a day about Election Day. Go back and see what the question was, and what my answer was. You have mischaracterized it to get another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us, and I choose not to play your game today. Have a nice day."
Reporters asked Obama about Clinton's Monday radio interview earlier this morning, and Obama said he hadn't heard the remarks. "You better ask him what he meant by that. I have no idea what he meant," Obama said. "These were words that came out of his mouth. Not words that came out of mine.''
Update: Obama communications director Robert Gibbs appeared amused and surprised by the idea the Obama campaign had made any deliberate effort of the kind Clinton suggested. "The secret memo? Where we put the idea in his head to say what he said so he can blame us for having said it?" Gibbs said while offering a wink. "That would be pretty good if we could do that."