The rabidly pro-Obama Huffington Post is calling a video released today smearing informal Clinton adviser Mickey Kantor a fake:
“A review of the original copy of the 1993 film The War Room, from which the excerpt was taken is virtually inaudible. The sound suggests, if anything, that instead of saying ‘How would you like to be a worthless white n****r?’ Kantor says, ‘How would you like to be in the White House right now?’”
– Huffington Post
A former aide to President Bill Clinton, and current informal adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton, expressed outrage and shock on Friday after a videotape from 1992 surfaced allegedly showing him describing Indianans as “white n—rs.”
Mickey Kantor, who served as campaign chairman during Clinton’s 1992 run for the White House and says he has offered help and advice to Sen. Clinton, insisted that the tape was a fraud and that he was exploring legal steps against the individual who posted it online.
“I’ve never used that word in my entire life, ever, under any circumstance, ever,” an angry Kantor told The Huffington Post, citing his and his parent’s work fighting for civil rights. “I have listened to [the video] and so have you. You can’t tell what it is I’m saying in that second sentence, you can’t decipher that.”
Indeed, a review of the original copy of the 1993 film The War Room, from which the excerpt was taken (around the 4:40 mark) is virtually inaudible. The sound suggests, if anything, that instead of saying “How would you like to be a worthless white n****r?” Kantor says, “How would you like to be in the White House right now?”
The director of the film, moreover, says that Kantor never uttered those words. “He does not say that. He does not say that,” D.A. Pennebaker told Ben Smith.
The cropped video, which spread through the Internet like wildfire on Friday morning, shows Kantor with fellow former Bill Clinton staffers James Carville and George Stephanopoulos discussing results from the general election. In the footage, Kantor approaches the two aides and says, “Look at Indiana — wait, wait, look at Indiana. 42-40. It doesn’t matter if we win, those people are shit.” That much seems true, though Pennebaker says Kantor was referring to the George H.W. Bush White House.
Interestingly, the video is no longer available on YouTube.
Update: Ben Smith at the conservative Politico.com has spoken with the director of “The War Room,” who confirms that Kantor never said the words in the doctored video:
I just spoke to D.A. Pennebaker, the director of “The War Room,” who said his film had been doctored to produce a widely-viewed YouTube clip.
In a clip from his film on the 1992 Clinton campaign, posted to YouTube today, Clinton advisor Mickey Kantor is — according to subtitles — seen referring to Indiana residents with an expletive and to his colleague George Stephanopolous with a racial slur.
“He does not say that. He does not say that,” said Pennebaker, after viewing the clip.
He said the initial expletive referred to the anticipated reaction in the Bush White House to the fact that Ross Perot’s polling numbers were holding strong.
“What he says is he’s surprised Perot’s numbers are holding,” said Pennebaker in a brief phone interview. “He says they must be shi**ing in the White House.”
The second expletive, he said, appeared to have been entirely fabricated, with new audio dubbed onto the original movie.
Pennebaker appeared surprised and amused by the video.
“A thousand people saw that film in theaters and didn’t think” the second expletive had been used, he said. “It’s very clearly understandable. It’s not like it was in Bulgarian.”
In an earlier version posted yesterday, the clip was circulating with a subtitle indicating — Pennebaker says inaccurately — that Kantor had insulted Hoosiers; the racial slur appears to have been added to the second version.
The audio in both versions isn’t clearly audible; it’s possible that the subtitles are incorrect, but that the audio hasn’t been deliberately altered.
UPDATE: I spoke to the editor of the video who said that he enhanced, but didn’t alter, the audio in the second portion of the video.
- Topic: News & Comment
- Topics: Congress, Fox News
I guess this says much about how supporters of “The One” feel his chances are next week. Desperation often begets foolish actions.
Obama will, of course, disavow all knowledge of such action, much the same as Bush did regarding the lies his people spread about McCain in SC during the 2000 GOP primary.
So much for Obama = Change.
I sure hope it’s a fake. Even though I’m still pissed off at George Stephanopoulos for fronting questions for Sean Hannity in the ABC debate, I think better of him than this.
I also hope we find out who’s behind it. So far you, and the first commentor, assume it’s an Obama supporter. But what a truly deft move it would be if it were a frame. I’ll reserve judgment for now.
The Huffington Post, like Buzzflash.com, DailyKos and other liberal sites, rarely publish anything positive or neutral about Clinton, so it’s telling that the HuffPo reporter appears to think it was fake.
I understand that Team Obama gets every benefit of a doubt and the Clinton folks get none, but what — the Clinton machine faked the video and sent it out themselves so that the ruse would be found out and Indianans would blame the Obamas?
I believe that the UltraRight partisans are behind both Smear campaigns….Against Clinton by fake Obama fans and Against Obama by fake Clinton Fans…..Rush Limbaugh calls for Riots in Denver….They want the Democratic Party to split, because they KNOW it’s the only chance they’ve got to hold on to power:
Drive a Wedge between Obama and Clinton supporters so that whichever one is nominated will be damaged….Seems to be working too.
I saw the video. His calling those people shit was plain. The other part was not so clear. The claim that this was fabricated doesn’t stand up. How? DXid they find a doubles for the people in the videeo or were those the reasl people? Did they find someone with the same sounding voice, or was that Kantor’s voice? One can also reaad the expression? The “excuse me” was expressed for what reason?
Oh, but it must be fake: Hillary said so!
Man I hope this thing ends soon. The constant charges and counter charges are a farce. Are we selecting a nominee to beat the pants off McSame and replace Chimpy McFlightsuit with a real leader or are we taking part in a human demolition derby? Will this new debate about responsibility for the you tube video bring our kids home or solve any of our pressing domestic issues? Easy does it my brothers and sisters. Peace
Jon, is there a reason you seem to know this was planted by an Obama supporter? Unless and until you have some proof, shouldn’t the headline be more along the lines of “Smear Falsified Against Clinton 4 Days before In Elections.”? There are 10,000 different ways to title this article, falsely accusing Obama’s campaign or supporters is as wrong as the attempt to smear Mickey Kantor. You’re better than this.
No, he’s not better than this. He smears others by saying THEY smeared someone. Typical Machiavellian dirty campaign tricks.
From phfilms.com
We would like to respond to some erroneous statements made today about our film, THE WAR ROOM. These statements alleged certain remarks to Mickey Kantor that simply are not true. The transcript of the scene in question confirms this.
-Chris Hegedus & D A Pennebaker
“THE WAR ROOM” TRANSCRIPT:
GEORGE AND CARVILLE
Indiana, we’re ahead.
JACQUELINE
Indiana!
GEORGE
Kentucky.
CARVILLE
Kentucky is five. Michigan is eleven, New York’s done.
GEORGE
Holy shit, we’re pulling away in Ohio.
CARVILLE
Oklahoma we’re up.
GEORGE
Tied in Texas.
CARVILLE
Tied in Texas. It looks good. Now let’s just say that. I like the text here.
GEORGE
Can you beep Wendy please? Looks pretty good. Looks pretty good.
MICKEY
Look at Indiana. Wait, wait. Look at Indiana. Forty-two, forty. It doesn’t matter if we win. Those people are shitting (oh, excuse me) in the White House. How would you like to be… Look at Texas, go down to Texas.
CARVILLE
Even.
MICKEY
Yeah. Thirty-nine, thirty-nine.
CARVILLE
Perot’s kind of holding, isn’t he?
GEORGE
He held.
MICKEY
Yeah, he held. His numbers held. I’m sort of surprised, frankly.
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The War Room (1993)
The War Room (1993)
The War Room was the name for Bill Clinton’s campaign center in Little Rock, Ark. Though the press wasn’t usually permitted inside this small warren of chaos, we managed to secure partial access and shot nearly 35 hours of footage there. MORE >
A film by Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker
1993, 96 min., color