Friday, July 24, 2009

White House Tries to Justify Obama's Statement about Gates Case

White House: Obama did not call the officer stupid

The White House tried Thursday to calm a hubbub over President Barack Obama's comments about a white police officer's arrest of a black scholar near Boston, saying Obama was not calling the officer "stupid."

Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama felt that when it was clear that Harvard University scholar Louis Gates Jr. was not a burglary suspect last week, "at that point, cooler heads on all sides should have prevailed."

At a Wednesday news conference, Obama had said that the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police "acted stupidly" by citing Gates on a resisting arrest charge, which was quickly dropped. He had not faulted the actions of Gates, who he said is a friend.

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