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Hillary Clinton Slams Fred Thompson on Cubans
Taking a swipe at a potential GOP presidential rival, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday criticized Fred Thompson for suggesting Cuban immigrants pose a terrorist threat. "I was appalled when one of the people running for or about to run for the Republican nomination talked about Cuban refugees as potential terrorists," Clinton told Hispanic elected officials. "Apparently he doesn't have a lot of experience in Florida or anywhere else, and doesn't know a lot of Cuban-Americans." Thompson, who is polling strongly among GOP primary voters and is expected to join the race soon, made the comment at a campaign stop Wednesday in South Carolina. The actor and former Tennessee senator was criticizing an immigration bill in the Senate, contending it would make the country more vulnerable to terrorism.
Story Continues Below "I don't imagine they're coming here to bring greetings from Castro. We're living in the era of the suitcase bomb," Thompson said. Fidel Castro is Cuba's leader. A video clip of Thompson's remark immediately circulated on YouTube, leading him to post a note on his campaign blog that he had been talking about Cuban spies, not immigrants. A message left with a Thompson spokesman, Mark Corallo, was not immediately returned Saturday.
All the major Democratic presidential candidates were at Walt Disney World for a forum sponsored by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Speaking to a group of about 100 supporters before the forum, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson promoted his status as the first Hispanic to run for president. "I'm not running as a Latino candidate. I'm running as an American governor who is enormously proud to be Latino," he said to cheers. A fluent Spanish speaker, Richardson called his supporters at the association "Mi gente, mi familia," - my people, my family. Florida, which intends to hold its important primary Jan. 29, is more than 20 percent Hispanic. Many are Cuban-Americans, who traditionally have favored Republican candidates.
© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note:
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