White House PR Problems
Apologies not accepted.
The Obama administration has a severe foot-in-mouth problem when it comes to the Bowe Bergdahl kerfuffle. National security adviser Susan Rice previously said Bergdahl served “with honor and distinction,” though she was slow to repeat that praise later. “I realize there has been a lot of discussion and controversy around this,” she said, “but what I was referring to was the fact that this was a young man who volunteered to serve his country in uniform in a time of war. That is itself a very honorable thing.” Meanwhile, former Veterans Affairs official Brandon Friedman tweeted earlier this week, “What if his platoon was long on psychopaths and short on leadership?” He later expressed “regret” for “choosing inappropriate language,” but the damage was done. Friedman himself served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, so he should have known better. Either way, the White House reaction to the public reaction suggests an administration severely out of touch.
- Tags:
- Bowe Bergdahl
- Susan Rice