Joel Benenson, a senior strategist for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, mistook President Obama for terror leader Osama bin Laden in an interview on MSNBC on Monday.
Host Andrea Mitchell asked Benenson about the continuing conflict between Clinton and her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), and Sanders' questioning of Clinton's judgement.
"You know, when it comes to the question of judgement, let's be clear. Hillary Clinton ran a spirited campaign against then-senator Obama and at the end of that campaign, he made a decision about her judgement and trusted her to put her in as secretary of state, overseeing American diplomacy and relations around the world," Benenson said. "He listened to her in the Situation Room, time after time, including around decisions about whether or not to go after Barack Obama."
Benenson then took a jab at Sanders and saying that he needs to talk about the issues.
"I think it's unfortunate Senator Sanders is not holding up well under the scrutiny and the rigor that the New York press corp is applying to him here. It would be better for him, I think, to stay on the issues," Benenson said. "But we're happy to have debates about whose got the judgement and the wherewithall to become commander-in-chief and make America safe and improve our economy in a way that will make a real difference in peoples' lives."
The 30 Rock character Jenna Maroney made a similar mistake in the show's first season. Her fictional character has accidentally insulted the troops and goes on Hardball with Chris Matthews to do damage control. There, she says the country should do everything it can to "hunt down and capture Barack Obama before he strikes again."
Maroney finishes by saying she will vote for "Osama in 2008" while Matthews and Tucker Carlson look on with shocked faces.