'Fox & Friends' Hosts Note AP's Double Standard on Inaugural 'Extravagance'

Presumably after having read NewsBusters Senior Editor Rich Noyes's January 14 blog on the matter, the hosts of "Fox & Friends" today discussed the Associated Press's double standard on presidential inauguration spending.

STEVE DOOCY: When you look back at how the mainstream media described his [George W. Bush's second] inaugural, back when he spent about $40 million on it... critics, for instance, writers at the Associated Press said, "look, we are in a time of war and we are facing all sorts of challenges." That money, four years ago, they said, should be used to armor up humvees and to protect our men and women overseas....You fast forward four years, suddenly we've forgetten all about those AP stories, where people are going, "George Bush's inauguration extravagant," now you're tripling the money. Where's the outcry?!

GRETCHEN CARLSON: Here's the amazing headline, and I think is the most blatant, bias situation that I have seen thus far. The new headline is, "For inaugural balls, go for blitz, forget economy." What?! Go for glitz, forget econ-- that's the same [news] organization that wrote four years ago, "Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?" That is blatant bias!

MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell is scheduled to talk about the AP's bias on the Friday, January 16 "Fox & Friends." Mr. Bozell is scheduled to discuss the controversy at around 7:20 a.m.