The day before Wednesday's presidential debate, CNN hosted liberal journalist Carole Simpson to give her take on the event. Not surprisingly, she laughed at Mitt Romney while praising President Obama.
"Romney is practicing zingers. He's not very funny," Simpson mocked Romney, before laughing. What did she say for President Obama? "I think he's much more comfortable in his skin." [Video below the break. Audio here.]
"He's been on Letterman. He's been on Leno. He's been on The View. They're doing all of these shows and I think he's much more comfortable in his skin. When he sang the Al Green song, you know, here is a man that can make fun of himself," Simpson gushed over the President.
Simpson, a former ABC News anchor who moderated the 1992 presidential debate in Richmond, endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in 2007 and thus revealed her true colors. As NewsBusters's Tim Graham wrote, Simpson suggested during the 1992 debate "with a little bit of vinegar that President Bush, 'the education president,' should answer an education question first."
NewsBusters also documented her history of liberal bias at ABC News. In one of her most egregious moments, she compared the 2004 electoral map to a pre-Civil War map of slave and free states and territories; the GOP South was, of course, matched up with the then-slave states.
CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin did press her to defend her views on Tuesday, noting that "some say he [Obama] could be a tad too professorial or too cool, which could be a turnoff for some Americans."
And Baldwin added that "there could be Americans saying that's great that he can hum a tune, but, you know, can he fix the economy?" Then she reassured Simpson of her expertise. "But I hear you, I hear you, I hear you. And you've covered this and you know this."
A transcript of the segment, which aired on October 2 on CNN Newsroom at 2:48 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
BROOKE BALDWIN: And it's incredible to think of these two men, they're pretty quiet the last couple of days, Nevada and Colorado respectively, perhaps practicing memorizing numbers and facts and zingers. But really it's interesting that you point out it's how they –
CAROLE SIMPSON, former ABC News anchor: Yeah, what is that about?
BALDWIN: What's that about? What do you think that's about?
SIMPSON: Romney is practicing zingers. He's not very funny. I mean – (Laughs)
BALDWIN: Newt Gingrich says he should be funny. You say uh-uh? No?
SIMPSON: I've watched him. I was in Iowa and saw his campaigning there. And he tries to be funny. It just doesn't come through.
BALDWIN: But what about – but the President? Because some say he could be a tad too professorial or too cool, which could be a turnoff for some Americans.
SIMPSON: He can. And he was that way in 2008. But look at what's happened in the four years. He's been on Letterman. He's been on Leno. He's been on The View. They're doing all of these shows and I think he's much more comfortable in his skin. When he sang the Al Green song, you know, here is a man that can make fun of himself and –
BALDWIN: Yeah, but you know what, Carole Simpson, there could be Americans saying that's great that he can hum a tune, but, you know, can he fix the economy? But I hear you, I hear you, I hear you. And you've covered this and you know this.
