White House: Obama misspoke about AARP endorsement

In his attempt to take on the misinformation that the White House says is being spread about health-care reform, President Obama himself misspoke, the White House admitted Wednesday.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged that Mr. Obama spoke inaccurately in New Hampshire on Tuesday when he stated that AARP, the nation’s largest organization for retirees, was endorsing his health-care-reform proposal.

Mr. Gibbs, who continued Wednesday to accuse opponents of the president’s reform plan of distributing “misinformation,” said the president was not trying to mislead anyone.

AARP has endorsed an $80 billion White House deal with pharmaceutical drug manufacturers that will save seniors money under Medicare Part D, but has not expressed support for any of the specific pieces of legislation currently making their way through Congress.

Yet Mr. Obama on Tuesday mentioned AARP three separate times as a supporter of his reform plans, saying they were “on board,” that they are “supportive” and finally that the group of roughly 40 million is “endorsing” a bill.

“AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare, OK?” Mr. Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Portsmouth.

AARP’s chief operating officer, Tom Nelson, quickly rebutted the president on Tuesday.

“Indications that we have endorsed any of the major health-care-reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate,” Mr. Nelson said.

White House officials said privately that the president spoke accurately in general terms because AARP does support the reform effort but that he crossed a line when he used the word “endorse.”