Palin: Media Guilty of "Blood Libel" After Tucson Shooting

Sarah Palin released a video statement Wednesday in which she accused the media of "blood libel" for blaming heated political rhetoric for the Tucson shooting that killed six and critically wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday.

Palin was among those criticized in the hours after the shooting, particularly for a map from her SarahPAC last year that featured gun crosshairs over the districts of Democrats, including Giffords, who voted for the health care overhaul. Her video statement reported by CBS News called the shooting the work of "a single evil man."

"I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event," she said."If you don't like a person's vision for the country, you're free to debate that vision. If you don't like their ideas, you're free to propose better ideas. But especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

Watch the video.

Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.