In case you didn't know, the President really doesn't like Fox News. Why? Fox is "not really a news station," in the words of White House advisor David Axelrod.
Barack Obama hasn't given the most highly-rated cable news channel an interview in eight months. But he apparently has no problem sitting down for an election day exclusive with the b-list host of "American Idol", Ryan Seacrest.
Seacrest announced the interview in a Monday Facebook post on his fan page:
As he wraps up weeks of urging potential voters to get to the polls on midterm election day, President Barack Obama will join 'On Air with Ryan Seacrest' tomorrow, November 2 for an exclusive interview on the state of the nation and life in the White House.
Do YOU have a question for President Obama? What issues concern you most? Let us know in the comments below and Ryan might ask it in the interview!
Ryan's interview with the President airs tomorrow at 7:15am PST in Los Angeles, and will be immediately available afterwards at RyanSeacrest.com.
So if the president has a problem feeding exclusives to news outlets that are not really news outlets, what is he doing talking with Seacrest the day of the midterm elections?
Perhaps he knows he will be fed with softball questions that are all-but-inevitably asked by a Los Angeles resident deep in the entertainment industry. Seacrest hasn't exactly tried to hide his political leanings. "[Obama's] influences have been felt all over the country," Seacrest gushed in a January episode of "Idol", "[and] today many of the 'Idol' hopefuls are following in his footsteps,"
This is the same Ryan Seacrest who, in his capacity as "Idol" host, mocked a 19-year-old contestant for his abstinence pledge.
So maybe Obama is doing the interview because he can be all but sure that no question will present a meaningful challenge. Of course he probably thought the same about his interview with Jon Stewart, but the comedian managed to hit Obama from the left on a number of issues, so who knows.
One thing is clear: Fox's status as a news organization obviously has nothing to do with the White House's demonization of the channel. If a town hall-style speech on MTV and an interview with the left's favorite comedian didn't remove any doubt, this latest antic should.
