At roughly the same time CNN's Candy Crowley was asking her guests if it matters that President Obama is appointing exclusively white men to fill vacancies in his cabinet, NBC's Andrea Mitchell was saying it clearly does.
Appearing on Sunday's Meet the Press, Mitchell said that women that she's talked to on Obama's staff "are not happy" about this (video follows with transcript and commentary):
ANDREA MITCHELL: Let me just say that was a White House photo. That picture was taken by the president's photographer, and that indicated who was around him when he was dealing with the fiscal cliff negotiations. That’s what that picture represented. At the highest levels of the White House and in the cabinet you have men and they are white men. Now, the numbers, we can play the numbers game, but as another Democratic president said during a transition in 1992, “You bean counters, you women’s groups who are, you know, counting heads, I’m going to fill these jobs.” But they were at lower levels.
And that’s why women, including the women in the White House, I’ve got to tell you, I wrote a story about this this week, and I did not get one complaint. I get lots of complaints from the White House about things that I say and do. And, you know, sometimes it’s correct, sometimes I have to correct something, but not one person, and I have talked to several people inside the White House, women, and they said, “No, we didn't have any problem with what you wrote about this week.” The women are not happy.
Bold statement from Mitchell.
The question is whether others in the media will join in this criticism, or if Obama will continue to get a pass on this.
Stay tuned.
