McGrath: the answer to your question (IMO of course) is yes. That particular quote (which I have not seen in a U. S. newspaper by the way ...not saying it didn't take place though)sounds a bit off the wall, I agree, but many a politician has uttered pretty stipid statements to the press from time to time. He is not alone in that.

As to the political leanings of the "Telegraph," your reference to "conservative" might be a bit flawed. As has been pointed out in this forum on many occasions, the meaning of the word "conservative" in Great Britian (example: Conservative Party)might be poles apart from they way we use the term, "conservative," in the U. S. I'm sure you know that in the U. S., the terms "liberal" and "conservative" are not the names of political parties. There are "liberal" and "conservative" thinkers in both the Democratic and the Republican Party.

DougR