Howard Dean, former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee head, issued an apology to military veterans who may have taken offense at his negative characterization of “American Sniper” movie fans — but qualified that mea culpa as not applying to those he called right-wingers.
“I’ll apologize to the veterans,” he said during an appearance on “Hardball” on MSNBC. “I haven’t seen the movie, and I think I was wrong.”
But he then qualified the apology, The Huffington Post reported: “I make no apologies to all of the right-wing nut jobs that have been twittering me in nasty language, but I do apologize to the veterans. We owe them a lot, and I think this movie was much more nuanced than I thought.”
His remarks about “American Sniper” fans — which included digs at tea party followers — were widely condemned. Actor Gary Sinise, an active supporter of the U.S. military, issued a particularly scathing criticism.
Mr. Dean’s original comments, as stated on “Real Time With Bill Maher” a few days ago, were made in context of discussing the popularity of the movie that chronicles sniper Chris Kyle and his family relations.
He said: “There’s a lot of anger in this country. And the people who go see this movie are people who are very angry. This guy basically says, ’I’m going to fight on your side.’ They bite for it.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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