As NewsBusters has been reporting all day, CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday gave a gushing and fawning interview to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that should be an embarrassment to the network.
On Fox News's America's Newsroom Monday, left-leaning contributor Kirsten Powers said of this fiasco, "It really was something you would expect from like the state-run media...60 Minutes was transparently being used as a campaign advertisement" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
MARTHA MACCALLUM, HOST: Kirsten, a lot of criticism about this interview, that this was a real missed opportunity to have the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, both have guided the country in, you know, very tough economic times and international situations, and there was just no real questions.
KIRSTEN POWERS: No, there wasn't. I mean, it really was something you would expect from like the state-run media. You know, it was that kind of level of propaganda as far as I'm concerned. First of all, 60 Minutes was transparently being used as a campaign advertisement, which, you know, if they're okay with that, then okay but, I…
MACCALLUM: Why would they do this? They don't have to do that? Why?
POWERS: Well, I can understand maybe agreeing to the interview, asking, letting them have like maybe one softball question in the beginning, and then move on to more important things. But the reality is, this was a joke. I mean it really was.
You look at it, and even, just not challenging basic things, like the President claiming that Hillary’s been a great Secretary of State in part because they have dismantled al Qaeda. Now, I'm sorry, it’s just, does anyone paying attention to what’s going on in North Africa? Why is the President not asked about Algeria, Mali?
MACCALLUM: So true.
POWERS: Libya? I mean, you know, these are in front and center in the news right now. And the next question after he says this is, “I have to ask you: what's the date of expiration of this endorsement?”
MACCALLUM: Yeah.
POWERS: That's his follow-up question to the President saying that al Qaeda has been dismantled.
TUCKER CARLSON: [Laughs]
MACCALLUM: That is a great point, Kirsten.
Indeed it was. A few moments later, Powers continued her critique:
MACCALLUM: I mean, they’re going to catch heat for this for some time...
CARLSON: He’s like kryptonite for them.
MACCALLUM: ...I mean, from all quarters. Kirsten just called it propaganda, on 60 minutes interview with the president, propaganda.
CARLSON: They melt with Obama for some reason.
POWERS: Well, also Martha, the other thing is that probably the first half pf the interview, it’s just old news. We already know how the Secretary of State was chosen. We already know about the back and forth. This already has been reported on. This is not new information like he was getting new insight into how this came about and how they got over their relationship. I mean, it really was just a campaign endorsement.
A few hours later, Powers elaborated further on Twitter:
Alarming that President Obama seems to think that the sucking up that CBS did was journalism, but Fox News is the problem.
— kirsten powers (@kirstenpowers10) January 28, 2013
Powers was commenting about Obama's attacks on Fox News in an interview with The New Republic published Sunday.
After what just happened on 60 Minutes, the President might want to withhold criticism of how he's handled by the media.
Just saying.
(HT Mediaite)
