Obama Biography Gaffes In June 2008, Obama Falsely Claimed His Father Served In World War II: Obama: "My father served in World War II, and when he came home, he got the services that he needed." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At The NALEO Conference, Washington, DC, 6/28/08) In May 2008, Obama Claimed His Uncle Helped Liberate Auschwitz: Obama: "I had an uncle who was one of the -- who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps. And the story in our family was is that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and he didn't leave the house for six months. Right, now, obviously, something had really affected him deeply. But at that time, there just weren't the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks On Memorial Day, Las Cruces, N.M., 5/26/08) According To The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Auschwitz Was Liberated By The Red Army On January 27, 1945. "On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, where they discovered some 7,000 prisoners, including young children, who had not been evacuated by the SS." (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Web Site, www.ushmm.org, Accessed 5/27/08) The Obama Campaign Acknowledged Obama Was Referring To The Wrong Camp. Obama Campaign Spokesman Bill Burton: "Senator Obama's family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II – especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald. Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically." (Ben Smith, "Obama's World War II History," The Politico's "Ben Smith" Blog, www.politico.com, 5/27/08) In March 2007, Obama Claimed That His Parents Got Together After He Was Born Obama Falsely Claims His Parents Got Together "Because Of What Happened In Selma," Alabama In 1965, Four Years After He Was Born. "It's significant in that sense that Gingrich's confession just happened to follow Sen. Barack Obama's riveting account of his parents' connection to the civil rights movement. Speaking at the 42nd commemoration of the 'Bloody Sunday' confrontation over voting rights in Selma, Ala., the Illinois Democrat energized a church crowd by linking the event to his birth. 'There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama,' he preached, 'because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So [my parents] got together, and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I'm not coming home to Selma, Alabama.' It was such a spellbinding story that I almost didn't want to wonder how the 1965 march could have led to the senator's birth, which happened four years earlier. We might call it a story too good to allow the facts to get in the way were he not a presidential candidate." (Clarence Page, "Dueling Stories Define Today's Politics," Chicago Tribune, 3/14/07)
Obama: "This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great great-great- great-grandfather had owned slaves; but she had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided that we know that the world as it has been it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I'm not coming home to Selma, Alabama." (Remarks By Barack Obama At Selman Voting Rights March Commemoration, Selma, AL, 3/4/07)
General Misstatements In June 2008, Obama Referred To An "Inhaler" As A "Breathalyzer" And Then A "Inhalator" Twice: Obama Referred To An "Inhaler" As A "Breathalyzer" And Then A "Inhalator" Twice. Obama: "Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when if you, they just gave, you gave treatment early, and they got some treatment, and a breathalyzer, or an inhalator, not a breathalyzer (Laughter.) I haven't had a lot of sleep in the last 48 hours, so. If they had an inhalator, inhaler, I'm still stumbling over this word. You know what I mean. You know what I mean. Then we would save money." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Bristol, VA, 6/5/08) In June 2008, Obama Was Unable To Complete A Sentence: Obama: "What they'll say is, well it will cost too much money. It would cost about, it it it would cost about the same as what we would spend … it … o-over the course of ten years it would cost what it would cost us…it it. Alright, okay, we're going to. It-it would cost us about the same as it would cost for about hold on one second I can't hear myself. But I'm glad you're fired up though. I'm glad..." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Bristol, VA, 6/5/08)