The feud between Fox News and the White House is far from over.
Last week White House Communications Director Anita Dunn went on CNN and declared that Fox News is a “wing of the Republican party.” And this morning, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said on This Week that Fox News is “not really a news station.” Well, Fox News is hitting back.
The cable news network sent me a statement this afternoon from Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news. Here’s the full text:
Surprisingly, the White House continues to declare war on a news organization instead of focusing on the critical issues that Americans are concerned about like jobs, health care and two wars. The door remains open and we welcome a discussion about the facts behind the issues.
And on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace and Fox News contributor Karl Rove slammed the White House. Rove said Dunn’s comments last week amounted to a White House attempt to “throw the grenades, turn on the flame thrower.” He said the White House is “getting very arrogant and slippery in its dealings with people, and if you dare to oppose them, they’re going to come hard at you and they’re going to cut your legs off.”
This is the White House engaging in its own version of the media enemies list. And it’s unhelpful for the country, and undignified for the President of the United States to so do.
Wallace said that “Anita Dunn’s facts were just plain wrong” and complained that the White House won’t send any administration officials on Fox News Sunday. “I’d like to ask them questions,” he said. “As of now, they’re gonna cut us off and not give us anybody to ask questions of.”
Rove seemed to find that puzzling, particularly because “this network is watched by a wide variety of open-minded independents and Democrats who want to hear the news.”
“The administration’s making a mistake,” Rove said, adding that the White House is “demeaning the office of the president” and that its actions are “wrong, fundamentally wrong.”
Late Update: Here’s the video.
