Palin attacks Obama’s gaffes in Thanksgiving message

MELBOURNE - Sarah Palin, who was lambasted in sections of the media after she mistakenly called North Korea an ally of the US, has pointed out a number of bungles made by US President Barack Obama in a Thanksgiving message posted online.

The former Republican vice-presidential nominee posted the message titled, ‘A Thanksgiving Message to All 57 States’, on her Facebook account, reports News.com.au.

“In May 2008, while campaigning to be president, Mr Obama wrongly told an audience in Oregon that he had been in 57 states, [with] I think one left to go,” Palin wrote on her page.

She opened her message by listing what she termed ‘misstatements and verbal gaffes made by Barack Obama’, along with accompanying YouTube clips.

They include Obama calling Europe a country; the US continuing to fight ‘to halt the rise of privacy’ - when he meant ‘piracy’ - in Somalia; and Israel being a ’strong friend of Israel’s’.

“I didn’t have enough time to do one for Joe Biden,” Palin added, in a reference to the famously outspoken Vice-President.

“YouTube links are provided just in case you doubt the accuracy of these all too human slips-of-the-tongue. If you can’t remember hearing about them, that’s because for the most part the media didn’t consider them newsworthy. I have no complaint about that. Everybody makes the occasional verbal gaffe,” she added.

Palin was on Wednesday lambasted by the media after she mistakenly called North Korea an ally of the US.

“The one word slip occurred yesterday during one of my seven back-to-back interviews wherein I was privileged to speak to the American public about the important, world-changing issues before us,” said Palin.

“If the media had bothered to actually listen to all of my remarks on Glenn Beck’s radio show, they would have noticed that I refer to South Korea as our ally throughout, that I corrected myself seconds after my slip-of-the-tongue, and that I made it abundantly clear that pressure should be put on China to restrict energy exports to the North Korean regime,” she added.

“The media could even have done due diligence and checked my previous statements on the subject, which have always been consistent, and in fact even ahead of the curve. But why let the facts get in the way of a good story?” said the former Alaska Governor.

The Twittersphere lit up after the publication of Palin’s message, with critics jumping on her mention of 57 states - clearly not realising it was her joke aimed at Obama. (ANI)