BIMBO comment

"a BIMBO comment is where the speaker repeats and denies a negative, causing the listener to believe the opposite of what the speaker is trying to say." [1]

"a BIMBO comment is a negative phrase that causes the listener to believe exactly the opposite. ... particularly when another party ... has determined the negative words." [2]

This does not look like a case where the speaker intends to deceive the listener; rather more like a case where the speaker fails to persuade the listener.

Examples:

Re: G. W. Bush "No, he's not a moron at all, he's a friend of mine." - Jean Chretien responding to reporters questioning him about the widely-reported comment by his director of communications re Bush: 'what a moron'.

"I don't see myself as an ideological zealot." (Senator John Ashcroft)

"I am not a crook" -- Richard Nixon