Chris Wallace of Fox News had a new fan in CNN's Carol Costello on Monday's American Morning, at least on his question asking presidential candidate and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann if she was a flake. "It was a good question, because many in America think she's a flake," announced Costello.
Rude questions are apparently only par for the course when it comes to Republican candidates. Beyond this, Costello moved on to parroting the standard media tropes regarding Bachmann."During the 2008 campaign she said that she wanted the press to investigate members of congress for being un-American. She says a lot of extreme things, and that brings up questions exactly how Chris Wallace posed them."
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Co-anchor Ali Velshi didn't want to say it was a bad question, but insisted the candidates are remarkably unspecific: "It does speak to whether it's Michele Bachmann or the other candidates, there is a remarkable and very obvious lack of specificity in their positions and in questions that they're getting asked. While that was a good question there are questions we would like to get answers to."
The mainstream media narrative about Bachmann is only beginning to form, but recent coverage has generally fallen into the category of surprise at he success mixed with reminders that she is a right-wing extremist. Costello's view appears little different, as she both reinforces the extremist trope, and defends an inappropriate question on the part of Wallace that appears to have been more revealing in its asking than the answer given it.
A transcript of the broadcast, which aried at 8:12 am on Monday's American Morning, follows below.
CNN
AMERICAN MORNING
06/27/2011
8:12 am EDT
CHRISTINE ROMANS: Now that was a blunt question, and that was a really - I think she answered it well.
CAROL COSTELLO: It was a good question, because many in America think she's a flake, and it was a good question.
ROMANS: How do you think she handled the answer?
COSTELLO: I thought she handled it great, but from her past comments, that's why a lot of people think she's a flake because remember during the 2008 campaign she said that she wanted the press to investigate members of congress for being un-American? She says a lot of extreme things, and that brings us up questions exactly how Chris Wallace posed them.
ALI VELSHI: It does speak to whether it's Michele Bachmann or the other candidates, there is a remarkable and very obvious lack of specificity in their positions and in questions that they're getting asked. While that was a good question there are questions we would like to get answers to.
ROMANS: There are all these pledges. The abortion pledge, the cap balance and cut spending pledge. There's three or four different pledges going around.
VELSHI: It has to be forced on the candidates.
ROMANS: Right. They'll sign pledges but then you there's this lack of specificity elsewhere. It's interesting, it's very interesting. Jon Huntsman was saying we have hit records. That's what you look at records for. You don't look at pledges but you look at records.
