MRC/NB's Bozell Discusses Michelle Obama Scrutiny, Clintons' Complaints About Media

MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell appeared on Fox News Channel's May 20 edition of "Fox & Friends" in the 8 a.m. half-hour. Bozell was joined by liberal radio talk show host Mike Papantonio to discuss whether Michelle Obama should be "off-limits" to media scrutiny and whether Hillary Clinton's complaints about slanted media are overblown.

Audio available here.

Selected excerpts below:

GRETCHEN CARLSON, co-host: Brent, are spouses off-limits in 2008?

BRENT BOZELL, President of the Media Research Center: Well, you know, I'm institutionally sympathetic to the idea that a spouse should be off-limits if the spouses want to be off-limits, if the spouse isn't participating in the political process. In this case, you've got a spouse who is well-informed, well-educated, well-spoken and outspoken on the campaign trail campaigning on behalf of her husband. So absolutely she's fair game. Of course she is. And it's an insult to her to say that she shouldn't be.

CARLSON: In what way?

BOZELL: In that, you know, it kind of reminds me of Hillary Clinton about staying home and baking cookies. Here is a woman who can think for herself, and can speak up for herself, and I think can defend herself. So if she's going to throw grenades out like saying that for the first time in her adult life she's proud to be an American, I think she ought to be challenged to defend herself.

On Hillary Clinton's complaints about the media:

BOZELL: She went from being presumptive candidate but also the absolute darling of the media to someone who was cast aside in favor of a new lover, Barack Obama. And the Clintons don't know how to handle that.

MIKE PAPANTONIO, radio talk show host: That's true.

BOZELL: For the first time in their lives, they don't have the media cheerleading for them. That doesn't make the media anti-them, but they see it that way.