Karl Rove hit back at the blog ThinkProgress for its report that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was using foreign money to fund campaign ads.
The Associated Press and FactCheck.org have reported that the claims about foreign funding have not been proven. The New York Times said “there is little evidence that what the Chamber does in collecting overseas dues is improper or even unusual.”
Appearing on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Rove said that the Center for American Progress — the organization ThinkProgress is associated with — also receives anonymous donations.
“President Obama based his attack on a blog posting by ThinkProgress, which is associated with the Center for American Progress. A group headed by John Podesta, who headed the president’s transition,” said Rove. “It is a political group and doesn’t reveal its donors. The president didn’t say anything about the League of Conservation donors. The National Resources Defense Council, which runs ads through its action fund, does not reveal its donors.”
Watch the video below:
In a separate interview on Sean Hannity’s program last night, Rove added:
This is an attempt to mislead the American people, to draw their attention from the news that came out last week that it is really bad for the Democrats. There are a couple of numbers that explain why they are out there alleging something for which they have not one scintilla of evidence: in September, the American economy shed 95,000 jobs, unemployment rate is 9.6%. If the White House thinks it can take attention from those numbers by running phony ads and stirring up controversy they are kidding themselves.”
The Daily Caller reported that a Democratic aide said that the White House backed off the attack on the Chamber after David Axelrod “got the treatment by Bob Schieffer,” the CBS host, on Sunday. “Is that the best you can do?” Schieffer asked Axelrod.
