As Matt Lauer went after Mitt Romney over comments about the auto bailout on Wednesday's NBC Today, conservative radio host Laura Ingraham took the morning show host and his colleagues to task: "Matt, as much as the Democrats, and maybe even you at times, want to turn this into a referendum on Romney, this is Romney running against an incumbent president who has a record that the media ought to start talking about and that the media also wants to avoid." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Moments later, Ingraham mocked NBC's sycophantic promotion of Obama: "This year the razzle-dazzle man is Barack Obama. He's with George Clooney tomorrow night. I'm sure you guys are going to have big coverage on the Today show.... Maybe just this time it's not going to be about the cool factor. Maybe it's about competency and an ability to manage this economy and downsize this out-of-control government."
Lauer failed to ask a single question critical of Obama and completely ignored the administration's current flailing on the issue of gay marriage.
Here is a portion of Ingraham's May 9 exchange with Lauer:
7:10AM ET
(...)
LAUER: Let me ask you about the general election, how it's shaping up. In an interview on Monday, Governor Romney said this about the auto industry bailout. He says, quote, "I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy and finally, when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back."
INGRAHAM: Yeah, well, look, I think Romney has got to remember, there's going to be traps out there set for him. He said some comment – he made some comments about the auto bailout early on that were critical. And then weeks later, he seemed like, "Well, people are liking the auto bailout in Michigan," so this could be a problem for him.
LAUER: But it's a guy Laura – but it is a guy, on this particular subject, who is trying to rewrite history. The version of the bailout he was looking for was money coming from private equity...
INGRAHAM: Right, it was a managed-
LAUER: ...and everybody agrees that money was not available. It couldn't have happened.
INGRAHAM: Well, what I think he also understands is that there were a lot of people who ended up getting shafted in that bailout. A lot of auto parts manufacturers, people who didn't get the returns that they hoped to get out of the – the wonderful bailout of the auto industry.
LAUER: Then why would he say, "I'll take a lot of credit for the fact this industry's come back"?
INGRAHAM: Look, Romney is Romney. Romney is not the, I think, the most – he's not the most comfortable politician out there. This year the razzle-dazzle man is Barack Obama. He's with George Clooney tomorrow night. I'm sure you guys are going to have big coverage on the Today show. He's going to raise $14 million in Hollywood. That is really cool. For a lot of people who see George Clooney and the celebrities, that's great. Maybe just this time it's not going to be about the cool factor. Maybe it's about competency and an ability to manage this economy and downsize this out-of-control government.
LAUER: I just want to throw like five names at you real quickly. These are possible vice presidential candidates. Just tell me who the Obama campaign should be most concerned about, guys like Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Rob Portman, Chris Christie, Kelly Ayotte.
INGRAHAM: I think – yeah, I think Paul Ryan is one of the strongest people on that list. I think for a number of reasons. Number one, he's someone who's been vetted nationally already. He's been up against the Democrats, point by point, on this budget. He's offering real serious reforms. And again, this is an election about the President's record. Romney has his own issues, but this is about, are you better off than you were four years ago? And the Obama administration is going to try to make it about a lot of other issues. We'll see if that plays out.
Where's Chris Brown? I thought – isn't Chris Brown here? Remember last time? I was-
LAUER: Not today, not today.
INGRAHAM: Come on.
LAUER: Laura Ingraham, thanks very much.
INGRAHAM: Great to see you.
LAUER: We've got other music for you.
INGRAHAM: Oh, okay, great
