Conservative Senator: ‘There Are Some Shows On Fox I Can’t Watch’ (VIDEO)

While the Senate debates the bipartisan budget plan, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a longtime deficit hawk, outlines his annual “Wastebook,” which points a critical finger at billions of dollars in questionable gover... While the Senate debates the bipartisan budget plan, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a longtime deficit hawk, outlines his annual “Wastebook,” which points a critical finger at billions of dollars in questionable government spending, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Oklahoma’s Tom Coburn is one of the most conservative senators, but sometimes Fox News is even too much for him.

The retiring Coburn was asked by a constituent during a town hall this week in Tulsa, Okla. what he would do if he were “in charge of media and communications in this country.”

“How would you fix us so we are not focused on the superficial but on wisdom and transmitting that among the people?” the constituent asked.

After telling the man he hopes “nobody’s ever in charge of media and communications in this country,” Coburn surveyed the triumvirate of cable news channels.

The Republican said “the truth is somewhere in between” MSNBC, Fox News and CNN — although when it comes to the most conservative of the three, sometimes he just has to flip the channel.

“There are certain shows on Fox I can’t watch because they’re totally not fair and totally not balanced,” Coburn told the crowd Wednesday at Tulsa Community College. “And so what I want is I want all the information in which I can make the best decision.”

Coburn, who earned a perfect 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union last year, said that his daily news consumption includes both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

“One’s a conservative newspaper, one’s a very liberal newspaper,” he said. “But I want the viewpoint.”

Watch video of the town hall, Coburn’s last as a senator, via TheOkie.com. The exchange on media comes around the 23:40 mark:

h/t Mediaite

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: