E-mail distorts Daschle comment on seniors

By Robert Farley
Published on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 3:22 p.m.

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Claims that former Sen. Tom Daschle said, "Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them."

Chain e-mail, Thursday, April 2nd, 2009.

Ruling: False | Details

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No, Daschle never made the comment that's attributed to him in a chain e-mail.

Some chain e-mails remind us of a bad Three's Company episode. One roommate overhears something a little wrong and leaps to all sorts of misguided conclusions. Hijinks ensue.

The latest chain e-mail sent to us from a reader puts some words into the mouth of former Sen. Tom Daschle that raised our eyebrows. Daschle, you may recall, was once President Barack Obama's choice to be secretary of health and human services. He stepped down from consideration amid revelations about tax problems, but some think his fingerprints can be seen in some of the health provisions in the economic stimulus package signed by the president in February.

According to the e-mail, Daschle was quoted in a Bloomberg story saying, "Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them."

We thought that sounded a bit impolitic, and fairly callous, for a former senator to say, so we decided to check it out. We found the comment wasn't really from Daschle. Read our full report here .