CNN Anchor Goes Personal on Vitter; He Says 'The Good News Is...It's Not Up to CNN' to Pick GOP Nominee
Bill Clinton has done hundreds of TV interviews since leaving office in 2001, and journalists have very rarely found it appropriate to revisit his sex scandals. But for CNN, Republicans merit an entirely different standard of coverage.
On Monday's Early Start, co-host Ashleigh Banfield insisted to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that "I got to" bring up his 2007 prostitution scandal, so she could ask how Newt Gingrich could "manage the baggage" of his personal sex life. Vitter fired back that "the good news is, in America, it's not up to CNN" how the GOP presidential nominee is chosen. [Video below the break. Click here for audio.]
Vitter's response started a testy exchange between him and Banfield. She defended her question and tried again to elicit an answer, but he tersely refused.
He told her that she was "outdoing" CNN's John King, who led off CNN's South Carolina GOP Debate with a question to Gingrich about salacious accusations from his ex-wife.
"You're personally, in my opinion, outdoing out King, but go for it – John King – but go for it," the senator rebuked Banfield. At the end of the interview, she icily thanked him for the comparison "because I think he [King] is pretty great."
"Great. Go for it," Vitter shot back.
To read more, and for a full transcript, click here.
A brief transcript of the segment, which aired on January 30 at 6:35 a.m. EST, is as follows:
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: So, and it's awkward for me to even ask it but I got to, and I think you know where I'm going with this. Newt Gingrich --
Sen. DAVID VITTER (R-La.): I don't, but go ahead.
BANFIELD: Okay. So, here I go. Newt Gingrich has been suffering some heat over his cheating on his first wife, cheating on his second wife with his third wife. And you have also suffered heat in your political career as well, back in 2007 admitting to having made some calls to an alleged prostitution operation.
You did very well when you ran for re-election in 2010. In fact, if I look at the numbers, I think you trounced your opponent by, what, 19 points or something like that? You seemed to manage that baggage very well. I want you to weigh in on Newt Gingrich's baggage and handling that baggage, and what it is like for a politician who has some serious baggage trying to be elected.
VITTER: Ashleigh, the good news is, in America, it's not up to CNN. It's up to the American people and it's up to voters.
(...)
BANFIELD: Well, I appreciate that you say it's not up to CNN. But I like to say we're the messenger here and one of the messages that you gave was this quotation about your incident and you said, "This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible."
And that's why I bring it to you, not so that CNN can dictate how voters will vote, but so that we can take your message, including that one, which was kind of a embarrassing thing to admit to as Newt Gingrich has had to admit to some very embarrassing things and allow the voters to take those messages.
VITTER: Right, Ashleigh. Sure. Okay. You're personally, in my opinion, outdoing out King, but go for it – John King – but go for it.
BANFIELD: I'm not trying to outdo anyone, sir. I am trying to hold you accountable for the things you did. And I also said that you beat your opponent by 19 points, which is a pretty nice thing to say. What I'm asking you is -- can you compare the difficulties that you struggled with to what Newt Gingrich is struggling with?
VITTER: No, I can't.
BANFIELD: And that's that?
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Comments
It's Ashleigh Banfield's job
Submitted by bkeyser on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:01pm.
to hold Vitter accountable for his past?
Also, stating a fact about his margin of victory isn't "a pretty nice thing to say." Saying he is wearing a nice tie is a nice thing to say. Saying he was a stand-up guy for admitting to his faults is a nice thing to say. Saying he won by 19 points is a statement of fact.
I'm sure she would preface
Submitted by WarEagle66 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 3:23pm.
I'm sure she would preface ANY question to Hillary or Billy with Monica Lewinsky and his inserting cigars into the young lady.....
For CNN
Submitted by hailstate on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 1:35am.
For CNN, telling the truth - a favorable one - about a conservative is "a pretty nice thing to say." It's like they're doing you a favor by not lying about you.
YES YOUR RIGHT!!!
Submitted by OldJarhead77 on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 2:57pm.
But Ashleeigh....... lives in Liberal land... and in Liberal land saying ANYTHING that isn't outright NASTY to a conservative is a nice thing to say........ So in Liberal land she is a moderate liberal who is nice to the "ignorant conservatives" In the real word that we all live in... she is nothing but a LIBERAL HACK that would mention anything to embarass a consevative while in the next breath would PRAISE a FELLOW TRAVELER (LIBERAL) for getting away with doing the same thing she just excoriated the conservative for!
It's so nice to see
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:08pm.
Republicans FINALLY growing a pair! The more they call out these biased so-called journalists on the air, the sooner the twits might, just might, stop playing these stupid games. Not likely, but worth wishing for...
The "smart glasses" don't make you smart, Ashleigh.
Submitted by drsamherman on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:14pm.
In that clip, they made her look like a squashed bug.
She is certainly not intelligent enough to come up with questions like that on her own, so it is a strong possibility that those matters came up directly during the Ministry of Propaganda Jay Carney morning teleconference with the usual media co-conspirators.
No.
Submitted by The Vet on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:22pm.
Banfield: Can you compare the difficulties...
Sen Vitter: No.
Loved it.
Gee...that wasn't hostile at all.
Submitted by NeoKong on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:24pm.
She didn't even pretend to have any respect for Vitter.
I bet she would never speak to Eliot Spitzer like that.
nor Tony (the) Weiner!
Submitted by jmigyanka@msn.com on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 8:13pm.
Nor question Obama re: Vera Baker!
http://socialmediaseo.net/2010/05/01/barack-obama-cheating-scandal-affai...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076695/Obama-hit-affair-smears-...
NO she would be asking for Spitzers number
Submitted by OldJarhead77 on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 2:56pm.
so she could have some of that too like that hooker did!
Sean Hannity has often said that
Submitted by ProudAmerican58 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:29pm.
that 2008 was the year that Journalism died. I tend to consider it the year journalistic bias came out of the closet. This is just another example.
"I'm the just the messenger?" Give me a break!
The death of journalism
Submitted by creative_destruction on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 3:29pm.
Objective journalism is a myth. But, your point is well taken.
Steve
Why not bring on Clinton for that question?
Submitted by averageschmoe on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:28pm.
She "has" to ask him that question?
Let's see somebody bring Bill Clinton on or even Hillary and ask them how they mangage the baggage that they have in their history. Yea right. When Pigs fly.
liberalism
Submitted by angelann1 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:31pm.
Liberalism is a mental disorder !! They have no shame !!!
Baggage
Submitted by CJohnson on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:35pm.
Baggage from Clinton is called lost luggage.
Banfield is just another disgraced ex-MSNBCer
Submitted by SickofLibs on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 2:39pm.
like her fellow alumni Olbermann, da Shyster, Cenk Weeger, Brewer, Abrams, etc.
When they yank you off the air over at that insane asylum, you know you must really suck. I predict she'll screw up the CNN gig, too, and this gratuitous little attack piece is a good start towards that end.
Banfield how did you deal with your...
Submitted by inquiringmind on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 3:04pm.
He could have asked Banfield how she dealt the embarresment of asking the now grown daughter of JFK how she handled his death at the age of 8 while on a prank wake up call at 6am in the morning. Talk about embarrasing.
expound on that
Submitted by WarEagle66 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 3:13pm.
expound on that please....that sounds like something that could be used to email Banfield....
WarEagle66
Submitted by Model850 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 3:36pm.
See here:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/pj-gladnick/2012/01/12/chirpy-cnn-host-pran...
OMG. What a heartless b___h.
Submitted by Soldat44 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 4:32pm.
OMG. What a heartless b___h.
She
Submitted by bobsmom on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 3:38pm.
did a "prank call" thing (journalism?) where she woke up one of the Kennedy's at around 5AM, then proceeded to ask her how she remembered/coped with the death of her father. Very tasteful indeed. And if you took the word baggage out of her interview with Mr Vitter, the segment would have been half as long. Must have been the Sesame Street word of the day.
Aw, Gee, Dude...
Submitted by KyWriter on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 3:07pm.
...you just fogged up Ashleigh's glasses, and those are her most attractive feature.
Sounds Like A Death Rattle
Submitted by rammingspeed on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 4:49pm.
Democrats know they are in deep doo-doo. They are desperate. They have their operatives = EVERY GODDAM NEWS ANCHOR AT THEIR FILTHY LEFTIE STATIONS - coming out with the long knives, the big guns, the everything-they-got weapons. And don't forget the sneering arrogance, like this Banfield b*tch
Stop Going on these Liberal Networks
Submitted by cobokat on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 5:39pm.
Hello Republicans-do yourselves a big favor and stop going on these networks. To Reince Priebus-please choose your words carefully and speak with some intelligence before going on these liberal networks as you did this past weekend. The focus should be on BO and Solyndra...Fast & Furious...more bankrupt green energy companies...Obamacare and so on. To all...please get behind whoever wins the nomination...if not there is no doubt that BO will be re-elected and there will be no hope for the country.
Who is this woman?
Submitted by tjc-illinois on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 6:33pm.
Who is this woman to hold him accountable? Is she Mrs. Vitter? Is she a constituent? No on both counts.
He has admitted his sin. This is between Vitter, his wife and his God. As this 'newsreader' has mentioned, he was re-elected so obviously a majority of his constituents don't have a problem with him.
'Well, to tell the family secret, my grandmother was Dutch." Bart
CNN doing the devil's work for democrats
Submitted by ohio granny on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 7:51pm.
CNN is doing the devils work for the democrats. No matter how low a democrat stoops, they will never be called out for it. All republicans however, are to be held accountable not matter which republican does something wrong, no matter how trivial.
What an unholy alliance between the MSM and democrats. Insulting and disgusting.
And yet another reason I am
Submitted by Shreve on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 8:24pm.
And yet another reason I am glad to call this man my Senator. As far as I am concerned, Louisiana only has one.
Vitter*
Submitted by cajun2 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 9:35pm.
Say what you want about Vitter. But he is my senator and I have met him several times. He always has townhalls to answer to his constituents. He is not well liked by the republican establishment because he is a staunch conservative long before the existence of the TEA Party. He votes his conscience, not party and if you look at his record, he is consistent in his voting. Compare him to Mary Landrieu and Vitter looks like Saint.
I am jealous of mwjn and you.
Submitted by Scuba Dude on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 10:02pm.
I am jealous of mwjn and you. Sadly my Senators are Chuck U Schumer and Gillibrand. Two libturd Dims.
When I have the chance I am getting into the habit and submitting comments to CNN, NBC or others asking about the hypocrisy and bias their anchors and reporters and link the corresponding NewsBusters story. Need to show them that we are paying attention and are not going to let them get away with it.
That's exactly why I was
Submitted by Shreve on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 12:17am.
That's exactly why I was saying I liked him.
Landrieu and her family is what is wrong with Louisiana politics, in my opinion.
(note: I changed my user name if this is confusing, still somewhat new to NB)
Hello Shreve*
Submitted by cajun2 on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 1:30am.
When you have a chance. you will find neighbors at NB. There is cajun2, Boudin, Cocodrie from the basin and there are several other posters from La. ......from upnorth..;-)
Welcome cher.
CNN doesn't even try anymore..
Submitted by Mark81150 on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 9:25pm.
The MSM apologists are insane to attack FOX yet give a blanket pardon to the rest of the news outfits, when they pull this kind of in your face attack dog interview. Would she start of an interview with Bill Clinton by asking about Monica's talents?
or an interview of Bwarny Fwank and ask about the gay prostitution ring run out of his apartment?
They never rub a democrats face in their scandals and denounce them by using ignorant claims like she did about holding him to account.. Her job is it? She was given this task by Jesus himself, or
is she just free lancing?
The MSM are sickening in their open betrayal of any standard of fair play, or even handedness.
America has no such thing as an objective media, it's a cold hearted lie spread by the one party that the media favor in huge numbers. The Rathergate scandal was a bald faced lie they were caught in, and in decades past, how many times were elctions stolen by a media making up a lie to hang on a republicans neck?
Remember in 1988, the democrats spread a lie, that Bush HW, was sent to Paris to cut a secret deal to free the hostages in Iran only after the 80 election? How much time was wasted chasing that down, and then the media never exonerated Bush when it became clear it was a lie... they just stopped talking about it. The media is a wholy bought and paid for DNC propaganda operation, nothing more.