Page 3 — Kerry Claims Backing of Phantom Foreigners

Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), the Democratic presidential candidate, told some whoppers last week worth worthy of Bill Clinton.

It started when the Boston Globe reported that Kerry told donors at a March 8 fundraiser that he had "met with foreign leaders" who backed him against Bush. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R.-Tex.) instantly seized on this to note that the only foreign leader known to support Kerry was North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, whom, the Financial Times reported, hopes a Kerry victory "would lead to a softening in U.S. policy towards his country's nuclear weapons programme."

The Washington Times then revealed that a "review of Mr. Kerry's schedules and campaign appearances shows that he has not made an official trip abroad since he announced his candidacy and that he has been in the same city as a foreign leader only once during that period."

Kerry didn't back down from what the Globe had reported he said. Instead, he repeated it.

But then the Globe revealed it had made a minor error transcribing Kerry's original remark, incorrectly citing him as saying "foreign leaders" when he had actually said "more leaders." Despite Kerry's repeated assertions that he stood by the remarks the Globe had originally reported, the Kerry campaign claimed on March 16 that Kerry could have meant "anybody" by the term "more leaders" and that, had he not been "misquoted," there never would have been a story.

Here's a look at the hole Kerry dug for himself.

"Kerry told about 50 Florida donors over coffee and muffins that their anger at Bush was shared not only by Americans but by political leaders abroad. 'I've met with foreign leaders, who can't go out and say this publicly, but boy they look at you and say, 'You gotta win this, you gotta beat this guy, we need a new policy,' things like that,' Kerry said. He did not identify the leaders in question..."

"There's a wide range of leaders that he has relationships with, that he talks to, and I am just not going to help divulge any kind of private conversations."

"In terms of who he's talked to, we're not going to discuss that."

"I don't know what foreign leaders Sen. Kerry is talking about. . . . But if he feels it is that important an assertion to make, he ought to list some names. If he can't list names, then perhaps he should find something else to talk about."

"I have had conversations with a number of leaders in the course of the last two years, up until the present moment, and I'm not going to betray the confidences of those conversations. But I have had conversations with leaders. . . . I'm not going to tell you who they are. . . . What I said was that I have heard from people who are leaders elsewhere in the world who don't appreciate the Bush Administration approach and would love to see a change."

"That's none of your business. "

"But it is our business when a candidate for President claims the political endorsement of foreign leaders. At the very least, we have a right to know what he is saying to foreign leaders that makes them so supportive of his candidacy."

"I'm talking about people who were our friends nine months ago. I'm talking about people who ought to be on our side in Iraq and aren't because this administration has pushed them away."

"Questioned by reporters, Kerry declined to say what rank or position the people he met with held, describing them only as 'people at different levels.'"

"I think the quote, the quote in the comment I made publicly, I believe, was that I 'heard from,' that's the direct quote. I've likewise had meetings. I've also had conversations. I said I've heard from, that was what I believe I said."

"I'm not making up anything at all. . . . I stand by my statement."

"If you're going to make an accusation in the course of a presidential campaign you ought to be able to back it up with facts."

"Because of poor audio quality on a reporter's tape recording, the exact quote by Senator John F. Kerry regarding comments from foreign leaders about his candidacy was incorrectly transcribed in an article that appeared in the nation pages on March 9 and in a page one story yesterday. The correct Kerry quote is: 'I've been hearing it, I'll tell ya. The news, the coverage in other countries, the news in other places. I've met more leaders who can't go out and say it all publicly but, boy, they look at you and say, 'You gotta win this, you gotta beat this guy, we need a new policy'-things like that. So there's an enormous energy out there. Tell them, wherever you can find an American abroad, they can contribute."

"But the campaign said Monday that the Globe's clarification demonstrates some ambiguity about what Kerry meant. His reference to 'more leaders' said Kerry's spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, 'could mean anybody.' The media's repeated references to 'foreign leaders' allowed critics to suggest he was talking about heads of state. 'He was misquoted,' said Cutter. 'Had he not been misquoted, this wouldn't be a story.'"