Andrea Mitchell falsely suggested that MoveOn.org/AFSCME ad attacked McCain's military service

Summary: In an interview with Gen. Wesley Clark, Andrea Mitchell stated that "there's a whole issue of whether there is an organized campaign against John McCain's military service, which ... Barack Obama can stand above and say, 'I honor his service.' " Clark responded: "Absolutely not." Mitchell then said: "Take a look at the MoveOn.org ad, the MoveOn.org ad with AFSCME, which has been airing quite widely." But, as Clark stated, the ad "doesn't say anything about [McCain's] military career."

On the July 1 edition of MSNBC Live, while interviewing retired Gen. Wesley Clark, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell falsely suggested that an advertisement by MoveOn.org and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was part of a supposed "organized campaign against John McCain's military service." Mitchell stated that "there's a whole issue of whether there is an organized campaign against John McCain's military service, which ... [Sen.] Barack Obama can stand above and say, 'I honor his service.' " Clark responded: "Absolutely not." Mitchell then said: "Take a look at the MoveOn.org ad, the MoveOn.org ad with AFSCME, which has been airing quite widely," and played the MoveOn.org/AFSCME ad.

In fact, as Clark stated in response to Mitchell, the ad "doesn't say anything about [McCain's] military career."

From the 1 p.m. ET hour of the July 1 edition of MSNBC Live:

MITCHELL: Well, let me -- let me point out what some of the critics from the Republican side have pointed out, that there seems to be an organized campaign and, whether or not you played into this -- that also on Sunday a liberal blogger, John Aravosis, on AmericaBlog.com wrote: "Honestly, besides being tortured, what did McCain do to excel in the military?" That was the title of the blog. Down in the blog, he said, "Getting shot down, tortured and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience."

Now, first of all, there's a factual issue there because no one has proved to my satisfaction that John McCain ever did any propaganda for the enemy. To the contrary, he resisted all efforts to use him as a tool, with his father being the admiral in charge of the fleet and refusing to let himself be --

CLARK: Mm-hmm.

MITCHELL: -- released and become, you know, a tool --

CLARK: Yeah.

MITCHELL: -- of the North Vietnamese at the time. That said, there has been an argument --

CLARK: I agree. He was a very honorable prisoner of war.

MITCHELL: He was an extraordinary man, and he showed a great deal of courage and has --

CLARK: Absolutely.

MITCHELL: -- had a career since he was a prisoner of war, which he can be judged on, his Senate career.

CLARK: Right.

MITCHELL: But there's a whole issue of whether there is an organized campaign against John McCain's military service, which --

CLARK: No.

MITCHELL: -- Barack Obama can stand above and say, "I honor his service."

CLARK: Absolutely not.

MITCHELL: Take a look at the MoveOn.org ad, the MoveOn.org ad with AFSCME, which has been airing quite widely. Let's play that.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN [video clip]: Hi, John McCain. This is Alex, and he's my first. So far, his talents include trying any new food and chasing after our dog. That, and making my heart pound every time I look at him. So, John McCain, when you say you would stay in Iraq for 100 years, were you counting on Alex? Because, if you were, you can't have him.

MITCHELL: Now, I know that John McCain said that --

CLARK: Well, Andrea, that doesn't say anything about his military career, that has something to do about John McCain's judgment, and I think that's a very legitimate issue, but there -- look, what I said had nothing to do with the Barack Obama campaign. I've been saying those things for months. I simply answered a direct question from the interviewer. And the clip you showed me is really about judgment, and I think that is a very important issue in this campaign.

—L.Y.