GOP House leader criticizes decision to air partial video of Shirley Sherrod

The full version of the Sherrod videotape did not become public until late in the day on Tuesday, when the NAACP’s national office posted it on their website. They said they did not obtain the full video until shortly before it was posted online, and that they placed it on their website as soon as they could upload it.

NAACP spokesman Chris Fleming said the national office worked with the Coffee County, Georgia branch of the NAACP to obtain the full tape. The Coffee County branch itself did not have the video, but had to obtain the tape from a local TV station, Fleming said.

The NAACP also continued to lash out at Breitbart and Fox News Wednesday, after rushing to judgment late Monday and condemning Sherrod’s statements as “shameful.” The NAACP has blamed Breitbart and Fox for airing the partial video, saying they were “snookered.”

NAACP spokesman Chris Fleming told The Daily Caller: “The thing is, this wasn’t just Andrew Breitbart. This was also Fox News.”

“All Americans need to question the legitimacy of Fox News. They’re the ones who peddled obviously sliced and diced video,” Fleming said.

Fox has said that they did not air the video Monday until Sherrod had been fired, though they did link to the video on their website.

But NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous also acknowledged that the NAACP had rushed to judgment prematurely on Monday in issuing its first statement.

“We have a very good batting average. It is near 1000. But sometimes we make a mistake, and we made one here,” he said on MSBNC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Tuesday night.

Email Jon Ward and follow him on Twitter