White House Insists Gibbs Didn’t Apologize To Fox

Fox News Logo, Treasury Department Special Master Ken Feinberg
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After TPMDC posted Friday about the latest in the Fox News v. White House saga related to an interview with Ken Feinberg, a Fox executive stood firm to say the White House had excluded the network.

Several readers brought a Huffington Post story to our attention this weekend. They have an interview with Fox VP Michael Clemente where he claims White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs apologized for the situation.

I spoke to a Fox media relations aide this morning with another interview request for Clemente or the D.C. bureau chief. The aide referred us to this story in Mediaite, which also features Clemente saying Gibbs apologized. The aide would not make him available for an interview.

I circled back again, and a White House official was adamant that Gibbs did not apologize. The official insists that doesn’t make any sense, since Fox got the interview and there would be no need for an apology.

But Fox pushed the issue this morning on Fox News Sunday, with Chris Wallace charging the White House “now says it was an honest mistake.”

Wallace interviewed former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, who said the ongoing battle with Fox seems to be a “coordinated, calculated attack” from the Obama administration. She said it was “unbecoming” behavior for a White House and likened it to Hugo Chavez attacking Venezuela press.

Perino said she was “glad to see the reporters in the room decide to stand up and show solidarity because they could be next.”

Late update: We clipped Perino’s remarks.

Last week, she offered similar comments about dictators. Here’s that clip.

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