Charlie Rose acted as an apologist for President Obama on Wednesday's CBS This Morning, after former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asserted that the second-term executive was avoiding responsibility for the recent spate of scandals surrounding his administration.
Rumsfeld snarked that "the only thing the President has really taken responsibility for is SEAL Team Six killing Osama bin Laden." Rose interrupted his guest and replied, "Oh, that's not true." [audio clips available here; video below the jump]
The veteran journalist raised the scandals in a very general manner, and didn't specifically mention the IRS's targeting of right-leaning groups, the Justice Department's investigation in the Associated Press' phone records, or the ongoing political face-off over the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. facility in Benghazi. Rose also inserted a rebuke of conservatives' criticism of the mainstream media's liberal bias into his question:
DONALD RUMSFELD, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: It – they're in crisis mode. There's no question about that, and – and they're still in a mode – if you're a navy pilot and you're lost, the first thing – you know, is, you climb; get some altitude; take a deep breath – conserve – and then confess. And they aren't doing-
ROSE: Confess?
RUMSFELD: Climb, conserve, and confess, and they aren't doing it yet. They're still trying to lay off blame. The only thing the President has really taken responsibility for is SEAL Team Six killing Osama bin Laden-
ROSE: Oh, that's not true-
RUMSFELD: Oh, pretty close – pretty close, Charlie.
The CBS anchor has a record of hardball interviews of conservative/Republican guests. Back in February 2012, Rose and co-anchor Norah O'Donnell hounded House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers on the issue of the budget sequester.
