Dean: I Didn't Say 'Panic Attack' (Yes, He Did)

Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean denied that he ever suffered from "panic attacks" during a Monday morning interview with Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends," insisting that neither he nor a reporter who recently interviewed him had used that term to describe an episode where he hyperventilated upon taking office as Vermont governor in 1991.

Citing a recent interview he gave to People magazine, Dean complained to "Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy, "I think if you read People magazine it says no such thing. The quote that you just read, it didn't say anything about a panic attack."

People's interviewer did, however, twice ask Dean about past "anxiety attacks," prompting the former Vermont governor to detail his hyperventilation experience.

Noted People's Ann Driscoll, "It sounds as if you had a little bit of an anxiety attack when you got the word that you were now governor."

"I did," responded Dean. "I hyperventilated and I started hyperventilating and I thought, You better stop that or you won't be much good to anybody. ... To suddenly get told that you have responsibility for 600,000 people – it provokes a little anxiety."

And in fact, it turns out that Dean himself has used the term "panic attack" to describe his old ailment.

Just three months ago, the Associated Press reported, "The candidate, who rarely talks about his personal life, said his brother's capture and death caused him to seek therapy for bouts of anxiety. Dean was quoted calling the episodes 'panic attacks,' although his aides said he quickly described that as a poor choice of words."

Still – despite his own use of the term – Dean complained Monday that Fox had hit him with a low blow.

"It's amazing to me the kind of stuff that you just did," he told Doocy. "It says nothing of the sort that I had a panic attack in People magazine. I'm shocked that you'd say such a thing."

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2004 Elections