MSNBC reporter Chris Jansing claimed President Barack Obama’s keen interest in this week’s African leadership summit stems from the fact that “he’s from Kenya” — an assertion that took over ten minutes for her to reverse.
Jansing spoke to MSNBC’s Joy Reid about the ongoing meeting of American and African leaders in Washington D.C. “The White House is clearly, I would assume, hoping this will be part of the president’s legacy, given his background,” Reid said.
“Yeah, the fact that he’s from Kenya,” Jansing replied breezily. “And the fact that when he was elected there were expectations on the African continent that he would do great things for them.”
The reporter realized her misstatement about ten minutes later. “Yeah, and — and just obviously to clarify, I misspoke at the top — before,” she said. “It is obviously the president’s father who is from Kenya. And you clarified that.”
“But he has a real connection,” Jansing continued. “And there has been a great expectation that great things could happen with this president and the African continent.”
Reid shrugged off the gaffe, but at MSNBC headquarters the rumors must already be swirling. Is Chris Jansing secretly a birther?
[h/t Raw Story]