CNN's Carol Costello on Saturday scolded prominent anti-war activist Medea Benjamin of Code Pink for repeatedly interrupting President Barack Obama during a major national security speech.
"I posted the question on my Facebook page and asked them what they wanted to ask you," Costello said. "And a lot of them said you were hurting your own cause because, one, you appeared rude to the President of the United States and, two, you just seemed a little, uh, crazy."
"I think killing innocent people with drones is rude," Benjamin replied. "I think keeping innocent people in indefinite detention for 11 years is rude. I think not respecting the lives of Muslim people is rude. I think not apologizing to the families of innocent people who are killed is rude. There are a lot of rude things about our policies. Speaking out is actually not rude."
During Obama's speech at the National Defense University, Benjamin began shouting about the hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility. She claimed she was invited to the speech and objected to the term "heckling."
Interrupting speeches has become a favorite tactic of Code Pink, which Benjamin co-founded during the Bush administration. The female anti-war activists have heckled a number of officials, including Hillary Clinton, David Petraeus, Condoleezza Rice, John McCain, Karl Rove, and Mitt Romney.
