Joy Behar then jumped in on the "Republican attack machine" and alluded to some attacks against Vietnam veterans such as Max Cleland and John Kerry and promised Obama will get "swift boated." Behar maybe missed the point that John McCain is the Vietnam veteran in the race and Barack Obama has no military service. Who could literally get "swift boated?"
The entire transcript is below.
SHEPHERD: No, I was just going to say is that Obama has not had nearly the negative press that Hillary has had, so if it is him against McCain-
GOLDBERG: Well, just wait.
SHEPHERD: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.
GOLDBERG: Just wait.
SHEPHERD: If he goes up against McCain it’s going to be unleashed with force.
BEHAR: The Repub- they talk about the Clinton attack machine. The Republican attack machine is lethal and-
WALTERS: Well, we haven’t heard it yet.
BEHAR: Listen, it wasn’t the Democrats who said that Max Cleland shot himself in the leg or something. You remember that story? These veterans, that they come back from a war. They’re wounded, they’re injured and then they say that they didn’t even get hurt? I mean it’s crazy stuff.
WALTERS: That was with John Kerry. That was the swift boat.
BEHAR: This swift boating. Well, he will be swift boated. Believe me. Believe me.
SHEPHERD: Hillary has been going through that. She’s braced herself.
BEHAR: She knows how to handle the swift boating. On the other hand, because he’s an African American, they may tip toe around him a little bit because they don’t want to be accused of racism.
GOLDBERG: Well, they’ll couch it in different language.
BEHAR: Well, yeah.
GOLDBERG: But, you’ll know what it is. I mean, come on, this is something I can speak to real clearly. I know when somebody is calling me the "n" word and smiling in my face. I know what they mean. You know, it’s very clear.
[applause]
BEHAR: But, you know what? If that happens, we’re going to say it. We’ll call it out.
GOLDBERG: If what happens?
BEHAR: If there are subversive statements- believe me we’ll be there.
GOLDBERG: I will do interpretive translation.
