Now this is what you call standing up like a real Marine and taking responsibility. From the Hartford Courant:
After nearly a week of criticism following revelations that he misrepresented his military record and five days after a press conference in which he expressed regret for his misstatements, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Richard Blumenthal apologized.
“At times when I have sought to honor veterans, I have not been as clear or precise as I should have been about my service in the Marine Corps Reserves,” Blumenthal said in a statement emailed to the Courant late Sunday by his spokeswoman, Maura Downes. “I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words.
“I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone,” Blumenthal said. “I will always champion the cause of Connecticut’s and our nation’s veterans.”
If not quite the textbook definition of chutzpah, this is darn close.
Blumenthal, who has been Connecticut’s Attorney General for the past 20 years, has been under intense fire since the New York Times reported last week that he had, on several occasions through the years, incorrectly stated that he served in the Vietnam War. In fact, Blumenthal received five draft deferments, the Times reported, and was a member of the Marine Corps Reserves who served in the U.S. during the war.
On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the story broke, Blumenthal held a press conference at the Veterans of Foreign War hall in West Hartford and tried to put the issue to rest. He expressed regret for those occasions when he has “misspoken” about his service, but never uttered the words “I am sorry.”
Meanwhile, on Friday, Blumenthal was nominated by Connecticut’s Democrat Party as its U.S. Senate candidate by acclamation.
State Republican Chairman Chris Healy criticized Blumenthal for making his apology by email, calling it an “electronic mumble.”
“Maybe he can’t look the Vets or people in the eye and really admit it,” Healy wrote on his Facebook page.