David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Obama, said on ABC’s This Week today that Fox News is “not really a news station.”
“It’s really not news,” Axelrod said. “It’s pushing a point of view.”
This follows on the heels of White House Communications Director Anita Dunn’s comments last week that Fox News is “a wing of the Republican party.”
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos played an audio clip for Axelrod of Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch saying that White House criticism of Fox News personalities “has tremendously increased their ratings.” Axelrod responded by saying that “Mr. Murdoch has a talent for making money, and I understand that their programming is geared toward making money.”
“We’re gonna appear on their shows,” Axelrod said. “We’re gonna participate — but understanding that they represent a point of view.”
Much like White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel did on CNN this morning, Axelrod also tried to lay some of the country’s current problems at the feet of the Bush administration, saying of President Obama: “Remember what he inherited here. He walked in the door, we had the worst economy since the Great Depression.”
Axelrod also said that “we are farther along than we’ve ever been in passing a comprehensive health insurance reform in this country.” And while he criticized the insurance industry’s opposition to reform efforts, Axelrod seemed confident that health care reform would succeed.
“We are on the doorstep of getting that done,” he said.
Late Update: Here’s the video.
