McCain Campaign Press Release - "In Case You Missed It": McCain Spokesman Tucker Bounds On Barack Obama's Cancelled Visit With The Troops

Fox News

July 26, 2008

Fox News' Molly Henneberg: "Tucker joins us from Virginia. So Tucker, Senator Obama decided to not to visit wounded soldiers in Germany when he was there, and this has not gone unnoticed by the McCain campaign. In fact, just a couple of minutes ago on my Blackberry, I got a new statement from your campaign, from a military advisor, Lt. Col. Joe Repya. He says, this is quoting, 'For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visiting with world leaders and speeches to cheering Europeans should not be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes.' So you guys think he really made a significant mistake by not going to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany?"

Tucker Bounds: "It is significant and I think what is most significant about it, Molly, is it speaks to his judgment. He prioritizes throngs of fawning Germans over meeting with wounded combat troops in Germany. And, you know, it really speaks to the experience that Barack Obama lacks. This is a serious position he runs to fill, and he needs to understand exactly where his role is and how important it is to lead as the commander-in-chief."

Henneberg: "Now, the Obama campaign says they didn't want to do it for political purposes, but you were telling me earlier that your campaign wouldn't have criticized him even if he had gone?"

Bounds: "No, that's right Molly. I think there have been nine different excuses out of Barack Obama's campaign as to why that trip and that visit never took place, and all of them fundamentally ignore one fact, which is that he couldn't make time in his schedule to meet with wounded combat troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it speaks again to the judgment of the candidate that's running to be the Commander-in-Chief of our military."

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