Washington – Rep. Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, is taking issue with a political appeal sent out by Sen. John Kerry, saying the senator falsely accused him of labeling Rep. John Murtha a coward.
“Sen. Kerry’s comments used for campaign fundraising purposes are simply over the top, extremely inappropriate and factually incorrect,” said Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for Hastert, referring to a Nov. 18 e-mail sent to supporters of Kerry by his political committee.
But an adviser to Kerry, D-Mass., said he was comfortable with his characterization of the speaker’s reaction to a call by Murtha, D-Pa., for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The adviser, Jenny Backus, said Republicans were trying to regroup after early criticism of Murtha, a decorated Marine veteran, backfired.
The back-and-forth illustrates the continuing political turmoil sparked by Murtha’s proposal.
In the e-mail message to supporters the day after Murtha’s announcement and a later barrage of hostile Republican reaction, Kerry said, “Dennis Hastert – the speaker of the House who never served – accused Jack Murtha of being a coward.” Kerry then listed Republican attacks on Murtha.
Backus said that comment was based on news reports and the general tone of an initial statement released by the office of Hastert, R-Ill.
It said that America “must not cower” in fighting the war on terror and that Murtha and other Democrats “want us to wave the white flag of surrender.”