Politics
Eleanor Clift stands by claim US ambassador not ‘murdered’
in Benghazi
A
longtime political pundit under fire for claiming the American ambassador to
Libya was not "murdered" in Benghazi is standing by her claim he died
of smoke inhalation.
"I'd
like to point out that Ambassador (Chris) Stevens was not 'murdered;' he died
of smoke inhalation in that safe room in that CIA installation," Eleanor
Clift, a columnist at The Daily Beast, said Sunday on "The McLaughlin Group."
While
Clift may be technically correct in light of reports that Stevens died from
smoke inhalation, she was criticized because the ambassador died as a result of
a fire ignited during a terrorist raid on the Benghazi consulate on Sep. 11,
2012.
She
stood by her comment Tuesday during a radio interview.
"I
was taking issue with the sort of glib use of the word 'murdered,'" Clift told radio host Steve Malzberg. "My point is that it
was a very chaotic event. The CIA was involved, which is why there was a lot of
confusion initially, and that all the questions that this special committee is
raising have been asked and answered in previous investigations."
Malzberg
asked if she would feel the same way if it was her relative. She replied,
"I would say he died of smoke inhalation."
Author
and columnist Pat Buchanan, who was on the Sunday show's panel, reportedly said he was "stunned cold" by her
remarks.
The
attack on the consulate in the Mediterranean port city has been a political
rallying cry since just weeks before President Obama’s re-election. With the
launch of a new House investigation, Benghazi is shaping up as a byword of this fall's midterm election and the
presidential race in 2016, especially if former Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton is on the ballot.
"I
was just trying to add a little bit of complexity, and I'm going to stick with
what I said," Clift said. "I realize this causes a lot of
emotion."
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