The No. 2 U.S. automaker Tuesday apologized after Mulally said his claim of intervening to prevent President Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of an experimental Ford vehicle had been meant as a joke.
Ford said Mulally never expected the story he told journalists in New York last week would be taken seriously.
The CEO found himself in an embarrassing situation when the story was featured on blogs and even in mainstream media like the Financial Times, which said, “he may have saved the incumbent of the Oval Office from blowing himself up.”
Recounting the meeting at the White House on March 28, Mulally said he noticed the president appeared to be ready to plug the power cord into the wrong outlet of a rechargeable vehicle that also runs on hydrogen.
“I violated all protocols. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front,” Mulally told reporters last Wednesday.
“I wanted to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the hydrogen,” he said to roars of laughter from the media, before adding: “This is all off the record, right?”
Ford said Mulally’s anecdote had been inspired by a video spoof featured on ABC-TV’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” talk show that suggested Bush blew himself up by plugging the cord into the wrong outlet.
“I tried to tell a joke about it and proved I am no Jimmy Kimmel,” Mulally said in a statement that was released to Reuters Wednesday. “It never occurred to me that it would get such wide play or be taken seriously.”
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Hmm could have been some serious stuff, didnt see anything in the aussie media about it though
He knows he was telling the truth. Bush was going to pull it in the wrong outlet,lol…
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Well…That goes to show that not everyone America elects is the smartest of people. Anyways…This is funny because it was just a stupid little joke. I don’t like how people get so upset over something so minute as this. Oh well.
good luck with the reviewme, i’m still waiting for my 1st review … bummer