Fox News host Megyn Kelly went after the White House on Thursday over its treatment of veteran journalist Bob Woodard, who is taking heat for his sequestration reporting.
On CNN Wednesday evening, Woodward revealed that he received a message from White House economic adviser Gene Sperling, who claimed Woodward would “regret” his recent reporting. The exchange turned out to be innocuous, but Kelly said it still reflects poorly on the White House’s press relations.
“We’re in a situation where you’ve got a respected journalist whose career is taking hits by the day because he has so many people piling on,” Kelly said. “And they’re treating him like he’s some rookie reporter who doesn’t know when he’s been threatened. Of course Bob Woodward had that email from Gene Sperling. And of course he read the whole thing and he knows what he wrote back. The question is whether he believed it was a threat when he perceived it. What he told CNN was, yes, that’s what I thought. I believed that was a threat to me. But we’re supposed to believe he’s too immature, as a reporter, to know what’s a threat and what’s not, given a long history with this senior White House aide.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Sperling’s email made it clear he was not threatening Woodward, adding that his tone was “incredibly respectful.”
Watch the Fox News clip:
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