Clinton slams Obama bias
2008-06-03 13:48
Washington - Bill Clinton has hit out at the media and Barack Obama's campaign for their attacks on his wife Hillary, as she faced up on Tuesday to the likely end of her bid for the Democratic White House nomination.
In recorded comments posted on the Huffington Post website, Bill Clinton launched a tirade against journalist Todd Purdum for a Vanity Fair article criticizing Clinton for his role in his wife's campaign as "slimy", "dishonest", "sleazy" and a "scumbag".
He added: "It's part of the national media's attempt to nail Hillary for Obama. It's just the most biased press coverage in history. It's another way of helping Obama."
The ex-president comments came on the eve of eve of the party's final nominating contests in South Dakota and Montana Tuesday, which are expected to herald Obama's victory in the race to face Republican John McCain in November.
Clinton also criticised the Illinois senator for being slow to denounce Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest who mocked his wife in racially-tinged language at Obama's Chicago church.
"They had all these people standing up in this church cheering, calling Hillary a white racist, and he didn't do anything about it," he said, according to the recording.
"The first day he said 'Ah, ah, ah well.' Because that's what they do - he gets other people to slime her."
The former president's spokesperson, Jay Carson, told the Huffington Post that Clinton had been upset about the "outrageously unfair article" in Vanity Fair but admitted his language had been "inappropriate".
- AFP