Last night while speaking here in New York City at the 92nd Street Y, former Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to China for President Obama Jon Huntsman had some pointed words for his own party.
His remarks were first reported by Zeke Miller at BuzzFeed:
Huntsman, the former Utah governor and once President Barack Obama's Ambassador to China, expressed disappointment that the Republican Party disinvited him from a Florida fundraiser in March after he publicly called for a third party.
"This is what they do in China on party matters, they punish you, if you talk off script," he said.
But this morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Huntsman said he was taken out of context.
The video above, released today by the 92Y, appears to show - not only did BuzzFeed get the context right, they got the wording of what Huntsman said absolutely correct.
Lawrence will explain what's really going on here in tonight's Rewrite.
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Damn. Just when you think you've found a prominent Republican who's not slimy, he slithers away.
I saw Governor Huntsman a few years ago in the breezeway of a downtown hotel when I slipped in to use the men's room.
He looked me right in the adam's apple... Okay, I'm not quite six feet, and he's probably under five seven...
I think he's afraid that big buffoon Rush Humbaugh® will beat him up... And he's definitely "distancing himself from Mormonism" with that swearing...
It's sort of sad that, of the original cadre of POTUS wannabes in the GOP primary, Huntsman was the most sane.
Of course, what he had to say at the 92nd st. Y was dead-on accurate. That is precisely why there are no longer any moderates in the GOP. They have all been purged. They did not present their little red books when ordered to do so.
Ed, you are so very off base on your report. Huntsman's remarks in context include the continuation of his idea: "... but not here...our base oughta be the people of the United States as opposed to some corner of a Republican or [a] Democratic party." He indeed likened the actions of a few in the party to the normal political actions of the Chinese Communist Party. I didn't see Huntsman shrink from his comments. I've rerun his comments several times, and my report on his comments is accurate. He did not compare the Republicans to the Chinese Communist Party; he compared a few inside the Republican Party to the Chinese Communist Party, and thus argued that reports about his statements were taken out of context.
Ed, from what I can discern, you've not taken very careful notes, nor paid attention to Huntsman's full expression of his idea. Indeed, the BuzzFeed headline is an attention-grabber; the sub-headline on BuzzFeed is out of context. The words "some corner of" are crucial in Huntsman's statement. (additionally, I do not claim a party, nor was I a Huntsman supporter.)
His comment on which you secondly reported was a wonderful, well-deserved powerful right hook to the seemingly half-empty head of the Republican party. His full set of comments are a well-needed dose of disinfecting sunshine. There should be nothing that blocks that sunshine.
I say it's time you have a regular, educated, well-spoken individual like myself on your show to briefly discuss this matter. I'm going to be persistent about you being accurate. You have a smarter audience than Rush Limbaugh. Please treat us with a bit more respect. Rachel does. Chris does. We can read, and we comprehend.
If you would indeed correct the sub-headline on BuzzFeed and begin to report on the few individuals of whom Huntsman is speaking, you may help to loosen the tongues of other Republican "leaders" who are fearful of leading and speaking up... who knows...
Uh by "Ed" do you mean "Lawrence"? Because that's whose site your writing to...
That's the way it looks to me, and I'm afraid as a former schoolteacher--and people tell me I'm pretty articulate in person as well--you're the one in need of learning what a "re-write" means. We'll just keep you after school for just a bit; feel free to call your parents and tell them why....
There's no doubt that Huntsman said what he said, and it was a powerful shot at the Republican Party. That's not the issue.
Lawrence's point was that when Huntsman appeared on Joe Scarborough he backpedaled on what he said and characterized Buzzfeed as a "bottom feeders" and insisted when his remarks "filtered up" up to the mainstream media they amounted to a complete distortion.
Now read what I just wrote slowly and carefully, okay? I'm a compassionate man, and I hate to see people embarrass themselves like you just did.