Franks: Obama just "enemy" of "unborn humanity"

A staffer for the Arizona Republican walks back her boss' remarks about the president

Published September 29, 2009 9:45PM (EDT)

Turns out Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., didn't really mean to call President Obama "an enemy of humanity." At least, not an enemy of all humanity.

Bethany Haley, Franks' spokeswoman, told the Associated Press and ABC News that her boss should have been more specific: What he really meant to say was that Obama is "an enemy of unborn humanity." (Franks was talking about abortion when he made the original comment.)

"He was just referring to the way President Obama has set himself up as the most pro-abortion president in America's history," Haley said to the AP.

As the Washington Independent's David Weigel points out, though, that distinction is odd for Franks. The congressman, Weigel says, "is crusading in Congress to find a backdoor method of giving 'personhood' to fetuses ... [The phrase 'unborn humanity' is] redundant, in his view."


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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Abortion Barack Obama Republican Party Trent Franks R-ariz.