Reacting to the questions posed during Wednesday's presidential news conference, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich expressed disappointment with the White House press corps, telling FNC's Greta Van Susteren the journalists have “taken such a pathetic dive with this President that they ought to be part of his PR firm. I mean it's embarrassing to watch.”
Gingrich cited a series of subjects on which reporters failed to press Obama, such as “So why are you releasing these terrorists in the United States?” and “Why are you so confused about whether or not you want to in fact go after and prosecute people who've never historically been prosecuted before?” Plus, “Doesn't it worry you to have $9 trillion in debt being projected under your administration?”
In the interview conducted at Mount Vernon, Gingrich quipped: “If you didn't know better, you'd think that he was practicing with his own public affairs people for the future press conference.”
Audio: MP3 clip which matches the video (58 secs)
From an interview excerpt run at the end of the Friday, May 1 On the Record with Greta Van Susteren:
I think the Washington White House press corps has taken such a pathetic dive with this President that they ought to be part of his PR firm. I mean it's embarrassing to watch. How many reporters have said to him, you know, “so why are you releasing these terrorists in the United States?” How many reporters have said to him, you know, “why are you so confused about whether or not you want to in fact go after and prosecute people who've never historically been prosecuted before?” Why are so few of them saying to him: “Gosh, doesn't it worry you to have $9 trillion in debt being projected under your administration?”
I mean, there is no tough, serious engagement. It's like watching a collection of, you know -- if you didn't know better, you'd think that he was practicing with his own public affairs people for the future press conference. These look like practice sessions. They don't look like real press conferences.
