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RNC hits Obama over Auschwitz claim, Obama camp responds
(CNN) — The Republican National Committee accused Barack Obama Tuesday of a lack of judgment after the Illinois senator mistakenly said that his uncle helped liberate the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz while serving in the American military during World War II.
In fact, that concentration camp was liberated by Soviet soldiers in 1945.
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton released a statement later Tuesday clarifying the remarks, saying the Illinois senator meant to refer to the Buchenwald camp, which American soldiers did liberate. Obama was also apparently referring to his great uncle, Charles Payne.
“Senator Obama’s family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II – especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald. Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically,” Burton said.
In a statement released earlier Tuesday, Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant said Obama's comments "raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief."
Obama's comments came Monday during a question and answer session after a Las Cruces, New Mexico speech marking Memorial Day. The Illinois senator was calling for better care for veterans who experience post-traumatic stress syndrome when he made the reference.
"I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps and the story in our family was is that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and he didn’t leave the house for six months," Obama said. "Now obviously something had really affected him deeply but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain."
Payne, a brother of Obama's grandmother, served in the 89th Infantry Division that liberated one of the subcamps of Buchenwald, according to the Obama campaign.
=====================This is yet another instance of Bama blatantly lying about his past.
Apparently he 'wrote' a book about his papa and apparently it was full of fairy tales. One remarkably hilarious tale involved his parents meeting at the Selma march.
Bama: 'There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I'm not coming home to Selma, Alabama.'
The truth is that the March was held in 1965 and little Bama was born in 1961. Bama later tried to 'clarify'that one: 'I meant the whole Civil Rights movement.'
The fact is Mr. Bama believes all of his own fairy tales and now has to clarify everything from his childhood friends who never existed and the life changing experiences that never happened. Embarrassing.
Obama confused Auschwitz with Buchenwald and an uncle with a great uncle when relating a story about a family member liberating a Nazi concentration camp, and you consider this blatant lying?
Does the point of this anecdote -- that Obama is proud that a family member helped to liberate these camps -- change in the slightest if the concentration camp were Auschwitz, Buchenwald, or Treblinka? Each exterminated hundreds of thousands of Jews; each was as evil as the next; and the soldiers who liberated the Jews at each of these camps were profoundly touched by the experience.
I have family members who died in these camps. I know that they were cousins of my grandparents and great grandparents generation, but I couldn't tell you who, when, or where either. He probably learned the story was he was young, like when I learned my family's history, and got the minor details a bit confused.
Is this really all you got on him: he got Uncle Charlie confused with Uncle Ben, and named the wrong death camp! Romney said that he marched with his father during the civil rights movement, but it turns out he never did. Did you have a cow then?
Can you attack this guy on a single policy issue, or are we going to fish for every misstatement he made in his 46 year lifetime. Jesus Christ would be unfit for the job with the hurdle placed this high.
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