Hope and Fail

White House walks back statement that Ahmadinejad is the ‘elected leader’ of Iran

Aboard Air Force One today, Robert Gibbs retracted his statement that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the "elected leader" of Iran.

Obama’s official spokesman, Robert Gibbs, today retracted his statement yesterday that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the “elected leader” of Iran.

Here’s what he said yesterday:

Whoa, Nelly. Add that to the president’s weak response to the disputed election earlier this summer, and it certainly seems like the French have our new president beat when it comes to standing for democracy. From ABC News:

Gibbs’ reference to Ahmadinejad as “elected” rankled many in the Iranian dissident community, and stood in contrast to comments by France’s spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs who, when asked if France recognizes Ahmadinejad as having been reelected, said “France ’s position of principle, in accordance with international law, is to recognize states, not governments.”

But Gibbs has pulled the statement back, clarifying his mistake on Air Force One today, from Reuters:

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Wednesday said he had misspoken in calling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iran’s elected leader and that Washington will let the Iranian people decide whether Iran’s election was fair.

“Let me correct a little bit of what I said yesterday. I denoted that Mr. Ahmadinejad was the elected leader of Iran. I would say that’s not for me to pass judgment on,” Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“He’s been inaugurated. That’s a fact. Whether any election was fair, obviously the Iranian people still have questions about that, and we’ll let them decide about that.”

What does it say, though, that the White House’s initial response to the question was to recognize Ahmadinejad as “elected?”

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