The Christian Science Monitor reports that Cindy McCain was caught lying about meeting Mother Teresa:
The latest embellishments come from the McCain camp. Cindy McCain has repeatedly referred to herself as an “only child.” This week came news that she actually has two half sisters, although apparently she had very little contact with them.
The McCain campaign had also put out the story that Mother Teresa “convinced” Cindy to bring home two orphans from Bangladesh in 1991.
Mrs. McCain, it turns out, never met Mother Teresa on that trip. (Once contacted by the Monitor, the campaign revised the story on its website.)
The story about Mother Teresa “convincing” Mrs. McCain to bring home two children from an orphanage in Bangladesh has been retold many times. Initially, the “About Cindy McCain” page on the McCain campaign website read: “Mother Teresa convinced Cindy to take two babies in need of medical attention to the United States. One of those babies is now their adopted daughter, 16-year-old Bridget McCain.”
The media picked up the theme. A story earlier this year on ABC’s “Good Morning America” stated, “With Mother Teresa’s encouragement she brought her fourth child, Bridget, home.” An April 2008 Wall Street Journal profile states that Mother Teresa “implored” Cindy to bring the girls to the United States. Other articles say Cindy did it “at the behest” of Mother Teresa.
But a source who was with McCain on that 1991 trip, and who asked that his name not be used because of prior legal dealings with the McCain family, says that Mother Teresa was not at the orphanage when Cindy decided to bring the two girls home.
A McCain source acknowledged that Cindy McCain did not meet Mother Teresa during the 1991 trip to Bangladesh but said McCain did meet her later on, although the source could not say when or where. The campaign has since reworded the reference to the adoption on its website.
The article goes on to say that Cindy has been caught lying or exaggerating on other occasions as well. I guess my major questions about this are:
If it was Michelle Obama would this not be all that was talked about for the next two weeks? There would probably be talk of it overshadowing the convention or something. God knows Fox would have 24/7 coverage and find a way to link it back to the Black Panthers or something.
Second, this is not a little white lie. Lying about meeting and conversing with Mother Theresa about adopting your child is delusional, not a little white lie. What do you think?
Update: Another question from the comments: Should Cindy be off limits?
Update 2: Please Digg the Story
Updated 3: I guess Snopes.com is going to have to update their page saying this is true! Anyone know how to contact?
Update 4: Cindy's About Me page is already changed, anyone know how to get the cached old page?
Update 5: Thanks! First time on the Rec list!
Update 6: TPM had a great blog a couple months ago with background on how Cindy was having drug problems during this period, using the charity to get drugs, and how the adoption may have been for political advantages.
Update 7: Here is the cached About me page! (Thanks Buckeye BattleCry!)
Update 8: A few People have sent e-mails to snopes.com; [They have updated their page, but see update 10]
Update 9: Great Comparison of old and new "About Me" Page (Thanks Phlogistician!)
Update 10: Snopes has updated their page, but I am not sure I agree with one part of their changes:
The summary is mostly accurate... But the summary errs when it says "Mother Teresa implored Mrs. McCain to take the baby with severe cleft palate." While the child did come from an orphanage begun by Mother Theresa, it appears Mother Theresa was not there when Cindy McCain made that trip; instead, she was in Mexico, and then California.
Snopes indicates that the summary is "mostly accurate," which I agree with; however, at the top of the page they still categorize the story as completely "True." This seems to me that it is still misleading, but maybe I am making too much of it..