Palin Defends Her Use of 'Blood Libel'

Critics are trying to use Tucson to silence me, says defiant Palin
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2011 1:42 AM CST
Updated Jan 18, 2011 3:30 AM CST

Sarah Palin was angry and defiant in her first interview since the Tucson shootings, vowing to Fox's Sean Hannity: "I’m not going to sit down; I’m not going to shut up." Palin—who described suspected gunman Jared Lee Loughner as "left-leaning"—defended her use of the term "blood libel" when asked by Hannity how she would address critics who say she didn't know the term's historical significance. "I don't know how the heck they would know whether or not I did or didn't know the term blood libel—nobody's ever asked me. And ‘blood libel’ obviously means being falsely accused of having blood on your hands,” she said.

"The criticism of even the timing of this statement is being used as a diversion," she continued, saying people on the left don't want to get Congress get back to work on our growing debt and growing energy crisis. "It's just much easier for critics ... to try to divert and distract from the issues at hand." (More Gabrielle Giffords shooting stories.)

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