Palin: 'I don't know how they sleep at night'
Former Alaska governor on anti-Romney super PAC ad
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 9, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Tonight, Team Obama is defending the indefensible, and in the process earning the well-deserved reputation of the dirtiest campaign in modern history.
Now as we told you yesterday, the controversial, pro-Obama super PAC known as Priorities USA Action put out this disgusting ad, blaming Governor Mitt Romney for the death of a steel worker's life.
Now we also pointed out that the steel worker, Joe Soptic, has already appeared in an official Obama campaign ad, and he also participated in a conference call back in May, hosted by the Obama deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter, where he explained in great detail his wife's death.
So now one day after we pointed out the blatant lie and the over dishonesty, no one -- not the president and president civility, not the White House, not his campaign officials, no one has the moral courage to stand up and condemn this ad.
In fact, the president's close confidantes have refused to comment, only saying they were not familiar with the story. But as we discovered, that's a blatant lie.
And just last night, Bill Burton, the Priorities USA Action co- founder, who let's not forget used to work for the Obama White House, stood by the disgusting piece.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP CNN)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": You are responsible for this ad, is that right?
BILL BURTON, CO-FOUNDER, "PRIORITIES USA ACTION": That's right.
BLITZER: You stand by it?
BURTON: Absolutely.
BLITZER: You make a serious allegation, in effect, suggesting that the Republican presidential nominee, in effect, is responsible for the death of this woman --
BURTON: And that is absolutely not true.
BLITZER: And we've gone through the timeline and clearly, he's not responsible.
BURTON: Absolutely not. You are absolutely right. He's not. That's not what the ad suggests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. Really, Bill? Then what exactly are you suggesting in the ad? In the final act of the circus is courtesy of this piece of irony. Here's audacity for you, the president attacking super PACs. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Over the next 3 months, 89 days, to be precise, the other side will be spending more money than we have ever seen. You have these guys writing $10 million checks. You have these super PACs that are just -- going crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Pretty unbelievable. Now the bottom line is, these dirty campaign tactics are beneath the dignity of the oval office. Mr. President, if you are really a man of your word, you will finally come out and denounce this ad.
Joining me now with reaction, the former governor of the great state of Alaska, Fox News contributor, Sarah Palin. Governor, welcome back.
SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Thank you so much, Sean.
HANNITY: Let's get your general impression. I mean, he's a tax cheat. It started with dirty air, water, they don't care about kids with autism, Down syndrome or grandma. Now it's -- Mitt Romney's a felon. Mitt Romney's a tax cheat. Mitt Romney hates women, hates dogs. And now I guess, he is a murderer.
PALIN: Well, it's only just begun. You know, we have the next few months, where we will have to suffer through the constant lies of the Obama administration and the Obama campaign.
What is shameful in all of this, Sean, is that a cornerstone of our democracy, of our republic that involves fair elections, is the atrophy of fairness in the media.
The media doesn't -- 90 percent are not calling Obama out, nor his campaign for the lies, including the lie in the latest ad that you just referenced.
HANNITY: You know, our own Peter Johnson Jr. was on "Fox & Friends" this morning and he rightly pointed out here, you know, we have campaign election laws. There cannot be any collaboration any of kind here.
Let me show -- because the campaign went out there and they repeatedly said, we have nothing to do with this. We don't even know this guy's story.
But if you look at the ad in May, run by the Obama campaign. We will run them side by side so people can see. I mean, there you have the same guy. This is back in May. You have Priorities USA on the left, Obama for America. And if you notice, he's even wearing the same shirt there.
What do you think should happen? Should there be an investigation?
PALIN: What I think should happen is, some of these reporters who know the truth about this situation because they were in the room, in the press conference or teleconference room listening to this back in -- I think he said it was back in May. Now they are watching this ad out from the super PAC. They know what happened. I don't know how they can sleep at night. They are the ones who -- they are basically prostituting themselves for a job, for interviews, for access to the Obama administration and the campaign. And they're letting this go on, though it is illegal. It violates the PAC laws.
What I would like to see happen is for just one reporter in the mainstream media who knows the truth about this to stand up and do the worthy and ethical thing and let Americans know that there was collaboration and also that this is a far-fetched, despicable ad that misrepresents Governor Romney's position.
HANNITY: That would be a violation of law, Governor. And here's my question. If you remember after the Tucson shootings, you were in the middle of a controversy because targeted districts, which by the way, was created by our own Bob Beckel, way back in the day, and Democrats have used it for years.
But then the president gives a big speech on civility. We should speak in a way that they would be proud of. You have been called all sorts of names. You have been attacked. Your family's been attacked. Michele Bachmann has been attacked. Bill Maher donated to this campaign. We know what he said about you.
What is your -- what would you like to say to the president who lectures on civility, who is silent, time after time about Maher, about Harry Reid and about this ad itself?
PALIN: I hope his daughters never have to go through what he allows and even I believe helps perpetuate what other women go through. He, the president, as the leader of these attackers and these attackers tried to invalidate and discredit somebody's record and reputation and what they stand for by diminishing them, via these horrible attacks. I hope that his family members don't have to go through that. You don't wish that on your worst enemy.
But you know, at this point, President Obama has proven himself to be one that is all talk. He is no -- he is no person that actually walks the walk. He talks the talk about civility and about fairness and ethics. And yet, he is a leader of those unfair and disgusting attacks on people who he just happens to politically disagree with.
I think it's disgusting. At this point, you know, with all due respect to the office of the presidency, when I hear Barack Obama speak, at this point, especially when he lectures about ethics and civility, it is nauseating to me.
HANNITY: You know, I would like to know, did he approve of this? What did he know about the ads? When did he know it? And why won't he condemn it? And those are the questions the media aren't asking.
Let me just go back to this question of Stephanie Cutter. Because yesterday, she actually was on another cable network, saying she didn't know anything about the details of Joe Soptic's story. I am going to play this for you and then I'm going to go take you back on a trip down memory lane. Let's roll this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CNN)
STEPHANIE CUTTER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We don't have anything to do with Priorities USA. That by law, we're not allowed to coordinate with them and by law, we don't have anything to do with their ads.
I don't know the facts of when Joe Soptic's wife got sick or when she died. But as I said before, I do know the facts of what Mitt Romney did with G.S. steel. I do know the facts of how Joe Soptic lost his job and lost his health care. The entire company went bankrupt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now let's go back to May, conference call. Joe Soptic -- and listen to the very end where Joe says, now I will turn it back over to Stephanie. And Stephanie says, thank you, Joe, we really appreciate you and David sharing your story. Let's watch this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JOE SOPTIC (via telephone): A little while later, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. I had to put her in a county hospital because she didn't have health care. When the cancer took her away, all I got was an enormous bill.
When you look at what Mitt Romney did in places like G.S. steel, you can tell he's only worried about one group of people, and that's the people like him, the people at the top. You can't expect much more from someone who says he likes to fire people, with no concern about what their family really means. Now I will turn the call back over to Stephanie.
CUTTER (via telephone): Thank you, Joe. We really appreciate you and David sharing your experiences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, so I guess the question we have here is -- and she's the same person that suggested that Mitt Romney may be a felon. Should president civility fire her, Governor?
PALIN: Sure. He should fire her. He should fire others around him who are full of deception like Jay Carney and Robert Gibbs, others who represent this agenda of deception.
It is not just these campaign deceptive ads, it is every day, Barack Obama speaking to the American public trying to convince people that we are on the right track, and yet the jobless numbers prove him wrong.
The mortgages, 30 percent of them being under water, those numbers prove him wrong. One thing after another, when it comes to data and facts and numbers about our economy prove Barack Obama wrong, and yet he continues to try to deceive the public.
So it shouldn't surprise us that he surrounds himself with others who would try to deceive and pull the wool over the collective American voters' eyes in his campaign. It is just kind of more of the same.
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