MSNBC's Abrams: I Don't Think Obama Should Go On Fox News

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Honestly, the hypocrisy of liberal media members knows no bounds.

On Friday, Dan Abrams of MSNBC voiced extreme displeasure with the announcement that Democrat Presidential candidate Barack Obama is finally going to be interviewed by Chris Wallace on this weekend's "Fox News Sunday."

This from a man whose very network has hosted numerous presidential debates despite moderators Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann being clearly in the tank for Obama.

Amazingly, this contradiction continues to elude the good folks at MSNBC as demonstrated by the following partial transcript of Friday's "Verdict" (readers are cautioned to have a trash receptacle handy in case of involuntary retroperistalsis):

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DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Turning now from accusations of a rival candidate trying to bring down Obama to a rival network out to destroy him.

Stop the tape. A rival network out to destroy him? Fox News is out to destroy Obama? Really?

Doesn't this seem amazingly absurd coming from a network that has been so obviously and unashamedly advancing Obama's candidacy virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week since the junior senator first tossed his name in the ring?

Regardless, let's continue:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: We want to note once again, we invited Senator Obama to answer some questions this week and once again he declined. So, the "Obama Watch" rolls on 765 days and still counting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABRAMS: All right. Now that that ridiculous watch is over, Obama has agreed to appear on FOX this weekend. Why should Obama go on a network that has spent so many hours reporting, quote, "breaking news" on the travel schedule of Obama`s controversial former pastor just to keep him in the news? The network that has offered up these offensive doozies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reason that he`s considered such a big deal is simply because he`s black.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a black candidate surrounding himself with a lot of white advisers.

BILL O`REILLY, FOX HOST: Neither one of us can point to one thing Barack Obama has done for African-Americans.

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Well, first of all -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The senator`s middle name Barack Hussein Obama.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX HOST: If he`s middle name is Hussein, what is wrong with people that bring up his middle name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because his father was Muslim and named him Barack Hussein Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABRAMS: A senior adviser for Obama told the Web site, Talkingpointsmemo.com, quote, "We are clear-eyed about FOX`s role in the dissemination and amplification of Republican talking points this election. They had been the tip of the spear when it comes to repeatedly broadcasting some of the most specious of rumors about Obama. He is going on there Sunday show to take FOX on, not because we have any illusion about their motives or politics in this election."

Let me bring in to the panel, Jonathan Kim, co-producer of Brave New Films, "Fox Attacks" series.

All right. Jonathan, look, I don`t think that Barack Obama should be spending his precious time going on to a network that has committed to trying to destroy him. What do you think?

JONATHAN KIM, "FOX ATTACKS" SERIES PRODUCER: Well, I agree with you. I mean, I think the best thing that Obama can get from this is if he goes on and just attacks them and tells them, "I know what you guys are and what you guys do." And if he goes and treats it like a regular interview and tries to thoughtfully answer questions, that`s going to be a disaster because we`ve now watched more FOX than really should.

And I know what they do and how they do it. They`re going to take apart every single thing that he says, every little caplet (ph), every word that he says, they`re going to even look at his body language, trust me, that`s coming too and they`re going to find every way to spin and distort anything he says.

ABRAMS: Roy, look, you know, the argument would go, well, you can`t appear on FOX, you know, he`s not ready to be president. Fine, I`m not saying that they couldn`t do it. I`m saying, why spend your precious time going on that network?

Amazingly, the first voice of reason in this discussion actually came from the founding editor of the Huffington Post:

ROY SEKOFF, HUFFINGTON POST: Well, first of all, it can`t be any worse than what happened on ABC. Nothing Chris Wallace is going to say is going to be any worse than Stephanopoulos and Gibson, right? So, that`s for starters.

Second of all, he is running for president of the United States, not president of the people who read the Huffington Post or people who watch Keith Olbermann. And I think it`s really good as long as he dictates the game, you know. I think that was the problem. He was on the defensive when he was during the debate on ABC.

I think at this game, he dictates the thing and says, that he said to him, "Listen, Chris, you know, after 4,000 dead soldiers, after the economy is taking, after foreclosures, after gas support (ph), this is about best you had, you had 735 days to repair and this is all you got, baby?" I think it would be great for him.

ABRAMS: But the problem is that at some times, the best laid plans don`t get executed that way. And, A.B., he is legitimizing FOX, even if he`s going to go after them, by going on to FOX.

A. B STODDARD, THE HILL: I think he should have gone on FOX a long time ago. I think that he wasted time boycotting FOX, Chris...

ABRAMS: Why?

STODDARD: Because he needs to face the tough crowd. John McCain is likely his opponent and he`s likely to be the nominee and he`s going to run against John McCain. John McCain is hanging out in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, and Little Rock in Selma, facing very tough crowds, taking questions of people of all colors...

(CROSSTALK)

ABRAMS: Wait. Is the notion, A.B., that the only tough questions for Obama can come from people who`ve made a campaign out of trying to destroy him? Come on.

STODDARD: No, I think he should have gone on FOX a long time ago, faced the FOX audience, and firmly disputed their specious rumors...

ABRAMS: But they deny it.

STODDARD: ...for whatever it is he has troubled with. But you know what? Chris Wallace is not going to attack him. Chris Wallace is a class act. Barack Obama needs to answer the questions. He didn`t answer well that debate and he needs to answer questions in a presidential way on FOX News.

ABRAMS: But, why? John Ridley, why on FOX News? Why on a place - listen to this, John, I`m going to play for you. This is Steve Doocy of FOX News talking with the morning team. Listen to this and then let`s talk again about the fact that he`s going on this network.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE DOOCY, FOX NEWS HOST: There`s been a drip, drip, drip of stuff. He`s middle name, Hussein.

Now the news that he was raised a Muslim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apparently, when he was a young boy, he attended a Muslim school, a madrasa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is huge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went to this madrasa for four years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went to a madrasa.

DOOCY: A madrasa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A madrasa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madrasa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABRAMS: I mean, this is from Jonathan`s movie. Obviously, John, it`s all...

JOHN RIDLEY, NPR CONTRIBUTOR: Where did he go to school? I`m sorry.

ABRAMS: Yes.

RIDLEY: You know, look, and here`s the thing is, Dan. I don`t think he`s going to sway a lot of the regular FOX audience, but what`s going to come out of this is going to be a lot of sound bytes that are played over and over again. And would Obama can do is show that he`s not the guy from the ABC debate who gets a little nervous or put upon, but rather, he`s cool, calm, collective (ph) and presidential.

And look, I`ve seen politicians, Democrats, who go on FOX News and make FOX News look bad. He`s got the opportunity to do that and there`s no reason, absolutely no reason he should not and not take that opportunity to come out and look presidential.

(CROSSTALK)

ABRAMS: Yes, again -- let me let Jonathan in. Go ahead, Jonathan.

KIM: I mean, in the 2004 election, Mark Mellman of "The Hill" actually, he found that FOX viewers voted for Bush, 88 percent of FOX viewers voted for Bush, 7 percent for Kerry. If Obama thinks he`s going to actually make some good points in the FOX viewers and go, "Wow, you know, I guess I`ve been wrong about Democrats all this time and that they`re not terrorists and atheists, some things like that. Oh, yes, I`m going to vote for him now." It`s not going to happen.

But most of the people are going to watch these clips, the clips of his interview on Youtube, and even FOX viewers aren`t going to watch when it`s on, they`re going to watch the edited sound byte and things that come out in the weeks, and months, and years to come, when they just "carpet bomb" (ph) Obama with every single thing they have, hoping to create this kind of cloud of bad feelings around Obama, not one story that has to stick.

ABRAMS: Here`s what Bill Clinton did, I know, a lot of it sounds like a lot of you are saying that he can go after FOX in the way Bill Clinton did against Chris Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: You did FOX`s bidding on the show. You did your nice little conservative hit job on me. But what I want to know...

WALLACE: Wait a minute, sir. I want to ask a question. You don`t think that`s a legitimate question?

B. CLINTON: It was a perfectly legitimate question, but I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of? I want to know many people in the Bush administration you asked, "Why didn`t you do anything about the Cole?" I want to know how many people you asked why didn`t you fire Dick Clarke? I want to know how many people you asked...

WALLACE: Did you ever watched "FOX News Sunday," sir?

B. CLINTON: I don`t believe you asked them that.

WALLACE: We asked plenty of questions.

B. CLINTON: You didn`t ask that, did you? Tell you truth, Chris.

WALLACE: About the USS Cole? With Iraq and Afghanistan, there`s plenty of stuff to ask, sir.

B. CLINTON: Did you ever ask that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABRAMS: In this sense, Roy, Obama is not a Bill Clinton. He`s not going to go after Wallace the way that Clinton did.

SEKOFF: Well, two things, one, I think, he should do it with humor and charm and he has that in abundance. But don`t forget, Chris Wallace actually went on, you know, the "FOX & Friends" morning show to criticize them for what he said was Obama bashing when they were piling on his, you know, typical white person comment. And he went after them pretty good. So, I think, you know, I think it will be a pretty good interview.

ABRAMS: Look, whether it`s going to be a good interview, I`m not saying it would be a good interview. I`m saying is that he`s got a limited amount of time, he can do a limited amount of interviews and the one place I don`t think he should be doing an interview, not because it`s going to be hard, not because he can`t answer the questions, but because the network has made a campaign out of going after him and mentioning Reverend Wright as often as they can as FOX News. We shall see.

Thanks to the great panel.

Honestly, how does Abrams look at himself in the mirror each morning as he shaves and brushes his teeth? Or, does he have someone do it for him so that he doesn't have to?

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.


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Noel - remember the Fox Democrat debate..

Noel - remember the Fox Democrat debate.. back in 2004?

I remember that the general consensus (no, not on Global Warming) from many - some of the candidates and some in the media - was that it was a highly acclaimed success. I suspect NB must have had some bits back then on it?

I remember that my impression of it (was there only one?) was that it was definately one of the best debates we'd seen. The public who caught it, were privy to a bit of real meaningful discussion on a few issues.

 (;~> gary

Well I can think of at least

Well I can think of at least one good reason why he would "waste" his time. What 5 times the audience of MSNBC combined.

Just ask, now that he and hill will not commit to pull all troops out of Iraq by the end of their would be first term, how is his plan for Iraq any different than MCCain or W's for that matter?
And yes we know you voted against it, yes we got that. So your answer is Senator?

I can't stand how you will not get any kind of straight answer from anyone running, this guy is the worst.

The sun is not set by a thermostat.....

Another advantage of Chris Wallace interview

Obama's appearance will also be seen on Fox's broadcast network, adding to FNC's audience.

When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.

JONATHAN KIM, "FOX ATTACKS"

JONATHAN KIM, "FOX ATTACKS" SERIES PRODUCER:

I mean, I think the best thing that Obama can get from this is if he goes on and just attacks them and tells them, "I know what you guys are and what you guys do." And if he goes and treats it like a regular interview and tries to thoughtfully answer questions, that`s going to be a disaster because we`ve now watched more FOX than really should.

Jeez. Why do they always have to be confrontational??? Do they all have a lack of self esteem that forces them to try to act tough and bully everyone?

Hey, Jonathan, how about if he just goes and treats it like a regular interview and tries to
thoughtfully answer questions,
[if you just stopped right there]....did that ever occur to anyone????

And Abrams: I`m saying, why spend your precious time going on that network?

How about because if you're running for President of the US, you should be willing to be make yourself available, not pick and choose who you will talk to?

So now a network is "unworthy" of speaking with the great Obama?

Did it ever, in your wildest imagination, occur to you guys  that Wallace might conduct a decent, honest interview? No, I guess not, because your role models are Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, who can't keep their emotions out of anything!

Sheesh.

Well well well... Little

Well well well...

Little Danny has got a case of the green-eyed monster syndrome...along with most critters at msnbc when it comes to Fox, look at the slug Olbermann and his silly immature show nightly regarding digs at Fox Noise as he likes to call it.

Why for me all the blathering is delicious....just delicious.

AB said it best here...

STODDARD: ...for whatever it is he has troubled with. But you know what? Chris Wallace is not going to attack him. Chris Wallace is a class act. Barack Obama needs to answer the questions. He didn`t answer well that debate and he needs to answer questions in a presidential way on FOX News.

Well stated AB...something that just goes ZING right over their little leftist empty heads!

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

AB Stoddard

I have to say, I find her a bit more down to earth than her peers.

DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Turning

DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Turning now from accusations of a rival candidate trying to bring down Obama to a rival network out to destroy him."
WOW, These guys do this to anyone with an (R) next to their name on a nightly basis.

The sun is not set by a thermostat.....

delete  

delete

 

It is amazing that liberals

It is amazing that liberals apparently want Obama to be harsher to Fox News than they want him to be with Iran.

Strange world.

Really, if Obama can't handle tough questions from Fox (note: these critical comments that Abrams played were all made by commentators and not reporters like Wallace et al.; but of course, on MSNBC the distinction between commentary and reporting is completely ignored), he sure won't be able to handle dealing with thugs like Assad and Ahmadinejad.

And boy, Abrams has really gone off the deep end these past six months or so. Just a reactionary liberal now; no pretense anymore.

 

 

 

In Trouble

I can not remember who said this several months ago: You will be able to tell which Democrat presidential candidate is in trouble. It will be the first one to be interviewed on Fox by Wallace or O'Reilly.

JM... Uh-Oh...wonder what

JM...

Uh-Oh...wonder what that means...Hillary already has been, now we have Obama...too funny!

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

Not a Wallace fan

and I've written him to that effect. It was obvious during the Repub primaries that he was in the tank for McPain.

It will be interesting if he does ask Osama the tough questions and sticks with them once Balack starts pointing his finger.

Expanding Horizons

I think MSNBC is too small for Dan Abrams. A talent as great as his belongs in DNC leadership.

third

third eye...

LOL...

Move over Howard Dean...can't you just hear the Dean Scream clear from Denver!

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

ABRAMS: ......... he is

ABRAMS: ......... he is legitimizing FOX,..........

That is the real agenda here, it's not about obama.  There is a concerted effort in all sorts of venues to delegitimize FOX. 

 As long as FOX is the lead dog Abrams will always have the same view in front of him.

MA... Yep...and if msnbc

MA...

Yep...and if msnbc ever want real legitimacy they need to clean out their own house starting with Phil Griffin on down to Abrams, Olbie, Matthews ect....

What fools they are...ahhhh but they have an agenda.

Going to be interesting to see what happens to msnbc after Nov. depending what the outcome is...although I do think Olbie and Matthews will have to be committed if the dems lose, especially Obama.

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

   And abram's

   And abram's thought that obama should appear on FOX and challenge them the way bill clinton did with his red faced tirade against Wallace, an episode that made clinton look a little unhinged to the viewers.

ABRAMS: Here`s what Bill Clinton did, I know, a lot of it sounds like a lot of you are saying that he can go after FOX in the way Bill Clinton did against Chris Wallace.

  If obama followed abram's advice it would be the end of obama's chances.  Again, abram's is willing to sacrifice obama just to take a swipe at FOX.    amazing

Exactly

 

And should the FOX appearance give Obama a noticable bump in the polls- watchout! msnbc will be even more insignificant.

DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Turning

DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Turning now from accusations of a rival candidate trying to bring down Obama to a rival network out to destroy him.

Come on, Noel... That's not a joke? Abrams really said that????

And he repeated it later????

And the point should be for Obama to go on Fox and make them look bad???

Good Grief!!

You really can't make this stuff up!!

How do these guys call themselves "journalists" with a straight face????

I saw that hatchet job by

I saw that hatchet job by Abrams.

Fox is by far the balance in the world of journalism.

In fact BOR has been over the top fair to Obama....why??...because he wants Barack as a guest!!!

I'm a refugee from the Democratic Party.

 

Danny Boy

 

 If Danny Boy's ratings get any worse he's going to have to fire himself again. Then of course he could rehire himself.

 I wonder when G.E. stock holders are going to get tired of pissing away money on these meatballs.

the MSNBC "Doc Block"

the MSNBC "Doc Block" laughs at Danny boys ratings!

the loony left loves the prison shows!

 

I'm a refugee from the Democratic Party.

 

ABRAMS TANKS...

That is the biggest problem with MSNBC, they never rid themselves of their biggest problems. Oh sure, they parted ways the likes of Tucker Carlson, Don Imus, Mike Barnicle, Phil Donahue, Alan Keyes, Micael Savage, & Laura Ingraham, & tried to do so with Joe Scarborough before they stuck him in the Imus slot.

But they keep deadwood like Mathews, Abrams, & BathTubBoy, I don't get it. FoxNews took John Gibson, who usually won his timeslot, & replaced his show, "The Big Story", with "America's Election HQ". Gibby has said he's not exactly made for HD, which is coming soon, CNN is already doing HD, FNC should be in short order, & Gibby still has his radio gig. So he seems happy. MSNBC on the other hand, keeps relaunching their current roster of failures. They had a 10 year birthday party for Hardball, about the last 7 years in 3rd palce behind CNN & Fox. They have redone Olbermann as well, he did'nt exactly light it up the 1st go around at MSNBC.

Then how many times is Abrams going to get a makeover? Look no matter how many times you clean up a turd, wash it, buff it, give it a nice shine, spray some perfume on it to smell nice, at the end of the day, IT'S STILL A TURD. When the idiots who bankroll the failure that is MSNBC decide to that losing money is bad, they will pull the plug.

 

 

"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise"  Mark Levin

 When the idiots who

 When the idiots who bankroll the failure that is MSNBC decide to that losing money is bad, they will pull the plug.

Well since that seems to be the upcoming election for their agenda to me anyway...it will depend on who wins if they decide to pull the plug and and make major changes to be profitable in any way shape or form.

Time will tell, it will be interesting. 

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

Joke

Fox will destroy Obama by playing little snippets of the interview like they did Rev. Wright! In fact, I have snippets of Fox news to prove it!

Hypocritical partisan hacks is all they are.

Hi Loe... Are you saying

Hi Loe...

Are you saying Fox are hypocritical partisan hacks?

Just curious here before I answer you some more....ah heck I will anyway, all the networks have played snippets over and over, and the only one who can destroy himself is Obama with his own mouth and what comes out of it...along with some of his associates of his own choosing. 

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

bigtimer

I waxed hyperbolic in a deliberately satirical way. hehe

Loe... Gotcha'....I

Loe...

Gotcha'....I think....lol!

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

Does Dan Abrams know he

Does Dan Abrams know he isn't fooling anyone with that rug he wears? Stop lying to yourself and the 3 viewers you have, Dan. That's not your hair.

ckc... You reminded me of

ckc...

You reminded me of Don Imus when he was still with the network, he would bring that up all the time and make fun of him....he never mentioned Keithie either much on his show...wanna' bet those two also had a lot to do with Imus and his firing there....funny now, the biggest supporters of Obama are on msnbc, and Hillary helped create the madness with the goup to bring Imus down. 

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

Cowardly Keith piled on

Cowardly Keith piled on Imus after the fact.

Anyone see Krazy Keith on Letterman?

He was busting out of his suit. Dave even mention to Keith that he is HUGE.....Krazy Keith was speechless...lol!

 

I'm a refugee from the Democratic Party.

 

HAIR CLUB FOR MEN...

ckc,

Are you trying to say that Dan Abrams needs a better hair-hat? I know that Mark Levin has said that he looks like he has a squirrel on his head, some maybe it is not his hair. He could always go the way of Michael Smerconish, stone cold bald, just a thought Danny.

 

"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise"  Mark Levin

Abrams' small mindedness

Abrams' small mindedness demonstrates precisely why MSNBC remains and will remain at the bottom of the ratings.

Next Please! If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal.