Rumsfeld answered McIntyre with tongue firmly pressed against his cheek:
“You like to repeat all that stuff, don't you. On camera? (Turning to cameraman) Did you get that? Let's make sure you got it. He loves that stuff. It's a sure way to get on camera. He'll be on the evening news.”
McIntyre also referred to a recent op-ed by New York Times Diva of the Smart Set Maureen Dowd wherein she wrote that Rumsfeld is being treated at meetings like “an eccentric old uncle who is ignored.” Rumsfeld fired back, “If you believe everything you read in Maureen Dowd, you better get a life.”
What follows is a full transcript of this segment, and a video link courtesy of Ian Schwartz and Expose the Left.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Secretary, I'm just curious, do you feel at all embattled at this point in your tenure?
DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: No.
MCINTYRE: Aside from the retired two-star general calling you incompetent and asking you to step down in an op-ed over the weekend, you also have a column from Maureen Dowd in which she quoted an unnamed administration official saying that you don't hold the same sway in meetings and that you're treated as, quote, "an eccentric old uncle who is ignored."
RUMSFELD: You like to repeat all that stuff, don't you. On camera? Did you get that? Let's make sure you got it. He loves that stuff. It's a sure way to get on camera. He'll be on the evening news.
MCINTYRE: I know you like to have the facts in the premise of the question.
RUMSFELD: Yes, I do. And you did it very well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can do one-armed push-ups and put all this to rest.
RUMSFELD: The answer is no.
MCINTYRE: Do you hold the same sway in meetings?
RUMSFELD: Oh, come on. I'm not going to get in that. Pam?
QUESTION: Sir, in your opening statement, said...
RUMSFELD: If you believe everything you read in Maureen Dowd, you better get a life.
