Fareed Zakaria Castigates GOP Primary Rhetoric as 'Incendiary'

CNN's liberal anchor Fareed Zakaria whacked Republicans in an interview clip that aired on CNN Friday, asserting that the GOP primary "wants people to say incendiary things." Zakaria's full interview with faux-conservative presidential candidate Jon Huntsman will air Sunday on Fareed Zakaria GPS.

Zakaria set the table for Huntsman, the liberal media's favorite GOP candidate, to blister the rhetoric of the GOP field as unsustainable. "[T]here is a market for people to say slightly outrageous things," Zakaria noted of the GOP primary. "So you just refuse to say those kinds of incendiary things?" he asked of Huntsman. [Video below the break. Click here for audio.]

After refuting the soundbites of his fellow candidates, Huntsman later followed up with a strongly-worded statement. "I'm not going to pander, I'm not going to bluster, I'm not going to contort myself into somebody I am not. And I'm not going to sign those silly pledges like everybody else has done. And I'm not going to make that soldier into Donald Trump's office."

A transcript of the segment, which aired on December 9 at 5:43 p.m. EST, is as follows:

[5:43]

FAREED ZAKARIA: Let's talk about the temperament, though, because it is – it seems to me one of your problems, which is that the Republican primary wants people to say incendiary things. I mean, if you watch the rise of Herman Cain, you watch the rise of Rick Perry, you watch the rise of Newt Gingrich – there is a market for people to say slightly outrageous things. There's a way of proving that you are, I don't know, politically incorrect, or willing to – you know, not (Unintelligible) to the mainstream media. So you just refuse to say those kinds of incendiary things?

JON HUNTSMAN: Well, it may give you your Warholian 15 minutes of fame, Fareed. But in every case that you've cited they've all come down. They go up, and then they come down, because there's no staying power, there's no sustainability there. And all I'm saying is I've got a track record. I'm a consistent conservative when you look at my record. And my track record would speak to accomplishments as governor. I've lived overseas four times, three times as the United States ambassador, I've been in business. So when we get our Warholian 15 minutes of fame, and I think it's coming this month as we gradually build up with a sustainable rise in New Hampshire, we'll have the staying power.

(Crosstalk)

ZAKARIA: You're predicting something about Newt Gingrich, who is still up. You think that that candidacy will fade?

HUNTSMAN: It's hard to know. We'll have to see where the marketplace goes. But I can tell – all I can tell you is this Fareed: I'm not going to pander, I'm not going to bluster, I'm not going to contort myself into somebody I am not. And I'm not going to sign those silly pledges like everybody else has done. And I'm not going to make that soldier into Donald Trump's office.