Ferraro: My comment wasn't racist, it was a fact
(CNN) - An unapologetic Geraldine Ferraro said Wednesday morning that her comments about the electoral impact of Barack Obama's race have been taken out of context, and that she stands by her words.
Ferraro stirred controversy with her recent remarks that Obama's campaign was successful because he was black.
"It wasn't a racist comment, it was a statement of fact," she said on CBS' Early Show, adding that she would leave Hillary Clinton's national finance committee if she were asked, but would not stop raising money for the New York senator's presidential bid. She also blamed Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, for misinterpreting her remarks.
Ferraro also told ABC's Good Morning America that "every time" someone makes a negative comment about Obama, they are accused of racism.
Late Tuesday, she told interviewer that she felt she was being attacked because she was white.
"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," she told the (Torrance, California) Daily Breeze. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"
Related: Watch a clip of Ferraro's interview with Diane Sawyer
- CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
It would be nice for the press to provide the full statement so everyone can see that the comments were taken out of context by the Obama campaign for political purpose.