MSNBC's Martin Bashir did an extremely contentious interview with Andrew Breitbart Wednesday wherein it was clear from the get-go the goal was to paint the conservative publisher and the Tea Party he's affiliated with as racist.
This became obvious to Breitbart after Bashir asked his opinion of a truly offensive picture of Barack Obama leading Breitbart to fire back, "You're trying to insinuate that I'm a racist here, which is what MSNBC does to conservatives every single day" (video follows with commentary and full transcript at end of post):
Before we begin the analysis of this lengthy segment, readers are reminded that Breitbart told NewsBusters his termination as front page contributor to the Huffington Post last month was part of a larger liberal media scheme to depict the Tea Party as racist.
Less than a month later, MSNBC's Bashir was clearly doing the same thing.
Wednesday's interview began:
MARTIN BASHIR, HOST: He calls himself a reluctant cultural warrior, but Andrew Breitbart has always seemed ready to rush to the front lines. And depending on your view, he's also been described as a conservative propagandist and a Tea Party loyalist. His new book is called "Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World." Not a very modest title.
In the book, you will find scarcely a word about one of his most infamous episodes involving Shirley Sherrod, the former USDA official fired after a video of her was posted on a Breitbart Web site. Sherrod is now suing Breitbart for accusing her of racism after showing, quote, "a deceptively edited clip."
That's some bedside manner, wouldn't you agree? In his introduction of his guest, Bashir called him "a conservative propagandist," deceitful, and conceited while in an interview supposedly about Breitbart's book began by talking about something that's not in it.
Despite the fact that Breitbart told me by phone that he had no idea this was going to be a topic up for discussion, it turned out much of this almost fourteen minute segment was about the Sherrod episode including this heated exchange:
BASHIR: Did you watch the entire video of Shirley Sherrod’s speech before you posted what were 136 seconds of it online?
BREITBART: No.
BASHIR: Was that a responsible thing to do, as a journalist who is concerned...
BREITBART: I guarantee...
BASHIR: -- to excavate the truth?
BREITBART: -- I guarantee you that every single day, MSNBC does that all the time. I -- in fact, MSNBC was the place that cut off a black person’s head and said that the Tea Party was racist because they were coming to Tea Parties with guns on them. And MSNBC cut the actual head off of that...
BASHIR: I -- I...
BREITBART: -- and the guy was...
BASHIR: I...
BREITBART: -- and the guy was black. Is that true...
BASHIR: Andrew, I...
BREITBART: Is that truthful journalism?
Of course not, but nobody in their right mind would equate MSNBC with truthful journalism.
Continuing with his racially driven narrative, Bashir next brought up Breitbart's esteem for conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh:
BASHIR: In the book, you say that one of the biggest influences on your intellectual and social development is a man you call Professor Rush Limbaugh. Is that right?
BREITBART: Yes. He was very influential.
BASHIR: OK. Now you know that Mr. Limbaugh, quite recently, did a, some would call humorous, others would say offensive, impersonation of the prime minister of China.
You could see where that was going from a mile away: Breitbart reveres Limbaugh; Limbaugh because he did an impersonation of the Chinese prime minister is racist, therefore; Breitbart must be racist as well.
But Bashir wasn't done. He next brought up a Dr. Kevin Pezzi who had contributed to Breitbart's Big Government for a few days last August before it was discovered that some of his previous work was rather racist. At that point, his articles at BG were pulled along with his biography, and the following comment was published by BG editors:
Earlier this week, we read an on-line column which provided one of the most thorough and well-researched examinations of the many controversies surrounding former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod. We asked the author of the column for permission to reprint his article. Since publishing the articles, we have been made aware of other writings from this author which do not reflect the principles and values of this site. Because of this, we have removed the articles from Big Government. While we stand by the information contained in the articles we published, we do not wish to see the underlying issue confused or diminished by other work the author has done. We regret the error.
When Bashir brought up Pezzi's name, the discussion got really heated:
BASHIR: Mr. Pezzi, as you know, likes to use racist epithets...
BREITBART: Yes.
BASHIR: -- like Jacks and Chinks.
BREITBART: Yes.
BASHIR: He also maintains that African-Americans should be grateful for being subjugated...
BREITBART: Yes, that`s deplorable.
BASHIR: Here's...
BREITBART: It's deplorable.
BASHIR: Here's the point...
BREITBART: It's deplorable.
BASHIR: Andrew, here's the...
BREITBART: -- Martin. Why are you doing guilt by association?
Indeed. And that's what bringing up Pezzi was all about. But Bashir wasn't done:
BASHIR: This week, Marilyn Davenport, a Republican official in Orange County, sent an e-mail to a number of colleagues featuring President Obama dressed and in a family of apes.
BREITBART: Are you asking me about this? What do I have to do with that?
BASHIR: I want to ask you, what do you think of that image?
BREITBART: It's deplorable. It's -- it's deplorable. It's reprehensible. And you`re trying to create...
BASHIR: When...
BREITBART: -- you're trying to insinuate that I`m a racist here, which is what MSNBC does to conservatives every single day. This entire context of this conversation is what the NAACP and what the Democratic Party has been doing to the Tea Party...
For those that missed this episode, here was the picture Davenport sent to some of her colleagues:
Bashir bringing this up was nothing less than deplorable.
Breitbart had absolutely nothing to do with this email, which means Bashir mentioned it to give viewers the idea his guest was somehow connected and to further the dishonest case being made that he's racist. Bashir's entire manner during this interview was more of a prosecutor presenting his case than a journalist discussing a new book with its author.
In the end, this was clearly nothing more than a hit piece designed to make Breitbart out to be a racist, and due to his association with it, the Tea Party as well.
Sadly, this is what now passes as journalism at MSNBC today.
Full transcript follows:
MARTIN BASHIR, HOST: He calls himself a reluctant cultural warrior, but Andrew Breitbart has always seemed ready to rush to the front lines. And depending on your view, he`s also been described as a conservative propagandist and a Tea Party loyalist.
His new book is called "Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World."
Not a very modest title.
In the book, you will find scarcely a word about one of his most infamous episodes involving Shirley Sherrod, the former USDA official fired after a video of her was posted on a Breitbart Web site.
Sherrod is now suing Breitbart for accusing her of racism after showing, quote, "a deceptively edited clip."
And I`m delighted to say that Andrew Breitbart joins us now.
Good afternoon, sir.
ANDREW BREITBART, AUTHOR, "RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION": Well, I don`t accept the promise.
BASHIR: But let me move forward. In your book, which I`ve read...
BREITBART: Um-hmm.
BASHIR: -- you write: "I`m not religious and I`m certainly no theologian. But if there`s one thing in religion that speaks to me, it is the idea of absolute truth."
BREITBART: Um-hmm.
BASHIR: "We start by uncovering the truth and telling everyone about it."
BREITBART: Um-hmm.
BASHIR: So that`s your -- those are your words.
BREITBART: Absolutely.
BASHIR: So let`s start, then, with establishing a single important truth.
Did you watch the entire video of Shirley Sherrod`s speech before you posted what were 136 seconds of it online?
BREITBART: No.
BASHIR: Was that a responsible thing to do, as a journalist who is concerned...
BREITBART: I guarantee...
BASHIR: -- to excavate the truth?
BREITBART: -- I guarantee you that every single day, MSNBC does that all the time. I -- in fact, MSNBC was the place that cut off a black person`s head and said that the Tea Party was racist because they were coming to Tea Parties with guns on them. And MSNBC cut the actual head off of that...
BASHIR: I -- I...
BREITBART: -- and the guy was...
BASHIR: I...
BREITBART: -- and the guy was black.
Is that true...
BASHIR: Andrew, I...
BREITBART: Is that truthful journalism?
BASHIR: I -- I wasn`t here and I...
BREITBART: OK.
BASHIR: -- and I don`t...
BREITBART: Well, I`m just saying...
BASHIR: -- I don`t know the details of that...
BREITBART: -- I go, well, look...
BASHIR: -- issue.
BREITBART: -- and the thing is...
BASHIR: (INAUDIBLE)...
BREITBART: -- the thing is that the story...
BASHIR: Can I just go back to the point, though?
BREITBART: I will go...
BASHIR: Just...
BREITBART: -- I`ll go back to the point.
BASHIR: Just back to the point. The actual speech was 43 minutes long.
BREITBART: Right.
BASHIR: Was it remiss -- was it remiss, on reflection, to post 136 seconds of that speech?
BREITBART: People put clips up all the time and that clip explained something very important that even include her -- included her -- her narrative of realizing that it`s not about blacks versus white, it`s about rich versus poor. And do you know who came to my defense during that period of time?
And I still, to this day, haven`t thanked him for that -- it was Chris Matthews. And he flummoxed Howard Dean and Salon`s John Walsh.
And included in the piece that everybody took selectively edited out of context, in the piece that went with two videos, I wrote, eventually her basic humanity informs her to help the white farmer.
What happened is, is that other media took it and cut off that part and talked about it on TV...
BASHIR: OK.
BREITBART: And so I ended up being a captive to the fact that other people selectively edited out my entire 1,400 word...
BASHIR: At...
BREITBART: -- argument...
BASHIR: At the time...
BREITBART: -- it`s an -- yes?
BASHIR: At the time that you posted the excerpt...
BREITBART: Yes?
BASHIR: -- the 136 seconds, you wrote: "Shirley Sherrod had, quote, `racially discriminated against a white farmer`"...
BREITBART: Read the whole -- why are you selectively...
BASHIR: Can I...
BREITBART: -- editing out...
BASHIR: Sorry. Can I...
BREITBART: -- the entire piece?
BASHIR: Can I just...
BREITBART: Yes?
BASHIR: Can I just finish?
BREITBART: Yes. Sure.
BASHIR: `And that the NAACP audience approved with murmurs of recognition and agreement,` quote.
Now, we have you saying something similar on camera.
Let`s take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREITBART: I think that the clip, as it exists, proved precisely the news point that needed to be made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: What was that news point?
BREITBART: I had been battling the NAACP against the false allegation that the Tea Party is racist. The entire 1,400 word piece makes that argument. That I hit the target, the NAACP, is affirmed in Shirley Sherrod`s -- in Shirley Sherrod`s day one statement, where she said, this is the NAACP`s fault and she said -- and the NAACP apologized for the audience`s reaction.
It`s significant that they apologized for the audience`s reaction, because the NAACP`s head, Ben Jealous, for the week before, attacked the Tea Party based upon the false promise that it yelled the "N" word at Congressmans Carson and Lewis.
I have four videos that show that it didn`t happen and...
BASHIR: Let`s get...
BREITBART: -- and...
BASHIR: -- let`s...
BREITBART: -- NBC will not show those videos...
BASHIR: Sorry...
BREITBART: -- and...
BASHIR: Andrew...
BREITBART: Yes?
BASHIR: Let`s -- let`s just stay focused.
You said in your original text in that video, "Miss. Sherrod" -- I`m quoting you -- "admits that she discriminates against people due"...
BREITBART: Yes, precisely.
BASHIR: -- "to their race."
BREITBART: Read it precisely -- yes...
(CROSSTALK)
BASHIR: That`s what I...
(CROSSTALK)
BREITBART: In...
BASHIR: Now, hang on...
BREITBART: -- the video...
BASHIR: Hang on...
BREITBART: -- she did.
BASHIR: Please...
BREITBART: And the audience...
BASHIR: Please...
BREITBART: -- reacted.
BASHIR: -- please allow me to...
BREITBART: OK.
BASHIR: -- to explain what I`m going to put to you.
That was the diametric opposite truth of what she said. What she actually said was that she went on to go out of her way to assist and her experience was in -- was an example of not discriminating...
BREITBART: OK, now...
BASHIR: -- on the basis of...
BREITBART: -- now what...
BASHIR: -- race.
BREITBART: -- Martin...
BASHIR: Why do you put...
BREITBART: Martin...
BASHIR: -- "Miss. Sherrod"...
BREITBART: -- Martin...
BASHIR: -- "admits that she discriminates against people"...
BREITBART: Discriminated...
BASHIR: -- "due to their race?"
That`s a deliberate...
BREITBART: -- discriminated (INAUDIBLE)...
BASHIR: -- misrepresentation of the truth.
BREITBART: No. I wrote in the piece that eventually her basic humanity informed her to help the white farmer...
BASHIR: Andrew, I`m quoting...
BREITBART: -- and I kept...
BASHIR: -- your words.
BREITBART: -- I -- yes. And read the rest of the piece.
BASHIR: How can you claim in your book to be so committed to truth- telling...
BREITBART: I just told you the truth.
BASHIR: How can you do that...
BREITBART: I just told you the truth.
BASHIR: -- when you publish something...
BREITBART: You don`t want to hear what I just told you.
BASHIR: I -- I don`t -- I`m listening to you, sir.
BREITBART: I told you, eventually, her basic humanity informed her to help the white farmer and I kept in the part of the arc. The whole point was to show that the NAACP has no right to judge the Tea Party on racism if it can`t keep its own house...
BASHIR: So...
BREITBART: -- in order.
BASHIR: So if you`re...
BREITBART: That was the point of it. That was the point of the clip.
BASHIR: So if your work...
BREITBART: And...
BASHIR: -- was so balanced, why was she forced to resign?
BREITBART: Who said that it was balanced?
BASHIR: That`s what you were just (INAUDIBLE).
BREITBART: I`m not -- I -- I -- I came with a point, to show that the NAACP was in no position to judge the N -- the -- the Tea Party. That is exactly what happened. And listen to me, the -- nobody went after...
BASHIR: Even...
BREITBART: -- nobody went after President...
BASHIR: -- Andrew...
BREITBART: -- Obama...
BASHIR: -- Andrew, even...
BREITBART: -- even after...
BASHIR: Can I -- can I just (INAUDIBLE)?
BREITBART: Yes.
BASHIR: Even Glenn Beck -- even Glenn Beck...
BREITBART: Yes?
BASHIR: -- who happily believes the notion that an Islamic caliphate is being constructed, in his words, from New Zealand to Nairobi, even he says that you deliberately misrepresented...
BREITBART: Well, he`s lying and the reason...
BASHIR: -- Shirley Sherrod.
BREITBART: -- the reason why he did, he...
BASHIR: He`s right, isn`t he?
BREITBART: He insinuated on the...
BASHIR: You misrepresented her.
BREITBART: -- do you want me to answer the question?
BASHIR: Please do.
BREITBART: He went -- he went on...
BASHIR: Did he misrepresent her?
BREITBART: -- he went -- I`m answering -- listen to me. Glenn Beck said Andrew needs to apologize. He insinuated that he didn`t touch the story. They had said that the reason why the White House fired her was because they were worried that she was going to -- that this was going to be on "The Glenn Beck Show".
Glenn Beck, in fact, ripped into Shirley Sherrod in his morning radio show. He was the one that diverted the attention away from the context, which was the NAACP angle, and made it about Shirley Sherrod. And he...
BASHIR: That`s an...
BREITBART: -- and...
BASHIR: -- interesting argument.
BREITBART: -- and -- and in his -- and on the air, he cut out the part where she said -- that I kept in the video, that said it`s not about black versus white, it`s about rich versus poor, which is her redemptive arc, which compliments -- which was in the piece -- that said eventually her humanity informed her to help the white farmer.
Answer me, why the president of the United States, when he was told that she helped the white farmer, did not rehire her?
It took another day for that to happen. The reason why this happened, MSNBC told me. They said Andrew Breitbart was responsible...
BASHIR: Oh, really?
BREITBART: -- for black farmers in the...
BASHIR: Let...
BREITBART: -- "Pigford" lawsuit...
BASHIR: Let`s go back to your book.
BREITBART: You don`t want to know the truth.
BASHIR: Of course I do, Andrew.
BREITBART: You don`t.
BASHIR: Let -- let`s go back to the book.
In the book, you say that one of the biggest influences on your intellectual and social development is a man you call Professor Rush Limbaugh.
Is that right?
BREITBART: Yes. He was very influential.
BASHIR: OK. Now you know that Mr. Limbaugh, quite recently, did a, some would call humorous, others would say offensive, impersonation of the prime minister of China. You also have asked Kevin -- Kevin Pezzi to write for BigGovernment.com.
BREITBART: Oh my gosh, you really are getting...
BASHIR: Can I...
BREITBART: -- your Media Matters...
BASHIR: Can I...
BREITBART: -- talking points.
BASHIR: Can I just go with you to this?
BREITBART: Yes.
BASHIR: Then you also...
BREITBART: Once I found out about...
BASHIR: Sorry.
BREITBART: -- who Kevin Pezzi was...
BASHIR: Yes?
BREITBART: -- he had submitted a piece...
BASHIR: Can I just...
BREITBART: We...
BASHIR: Sorry...
BREITBART: -- he...
BASHIR: -- Andrew...
BREITBART: -- he submitted a piece...
BASHIR: Can I just...
BREITBART: -- the second we found out about him...
BASHIR: Allow me -- allow me just to finish.
BREITBART: -- we got rid of him.
BASHIR: Allow me to finish.
Mr. Pezzi, as you know, likes to use racist epithets...
BREITBART: Yes.
BASHIR: -- like Jacks and Chinks.
BREITBART: Yes.
BASHIR: He also maintains that African-Americans should be grateful for being subjugated...
BREITBART: Yes, that`s deplorable.
BASHIR: Here`s...
BREITBART: It`s deplorable.
BASHIR: Here`s the point...
BREITBART: It`s deplorable.
BASHIR: Andrew, here`s the...
BREITBART: -- Martin.
Why are you doing guilt by association?
BASHIR: Because here`s the point I`m trying to make...
BREITBART: You`re selectively editing out the...
BASHIR: Look...
BREITBART: -- the fact that I got rid of him once I...
BASHIR: I -- I`m trying to...
BREITBART: -- found about that. I had never met him before...
BASHIR: Andrew...
BREITBART: -- and he submitted an article. And you are selectively editing...
BASHIR: No.
BREITBART: -- history right now.
BASHIR: I now need to take you back to what I was just saying.
BREITBART: Um-hmm.
BASHIR: You take 136 seconds and post it.
BREITBART: Um-hmm.
BASHIR: You then employ an individual who takes views like that or use an individual...
BREITBART: I didn`t employ him, he was a...
BASHIR: -- who has views that some...
BREITBART: -- he was a blogger that...
BASHIR: Sorry. Forgive me.
BREITBART: -- (INAUDIBLE).
BASHIR: You use his views and now you just said...
BREITBART: Why are you...
BASHIR: -- you fired him.
BREITBART: -- using...
BASHIR: You just said...
BREITBART: We didn`t -- I didn`t fire him.
BASHIR: That`s what you just said.
BREITBART: He was a -- he was a blogger...
BASHIR: Right.
BREITBART: -- who posted something at my site. Once I found out what this guy was about, I got rid of him...
BASHIR: Right.
BREITBART: -- immediately. And I took the -- the piece off of the site.
BASHIR: I`m trying...
BREITBART: But you want to do guilt by association...
BASHIR: No, I -- what I`m trying to do is...
BREITBART: -- right now.
BASHIR: -- I`m trying to follow the narrative of your own book...
BREITBART: Yes?
BASHIR: And what I`m saying is we have...
BREITBART: What have I not...
BASHIR: -- Shirley Sherrod...
BREITBART: -- told the truth about?
BASHIR: -- we`ve had...
BREITBART: What have I not told the truth about?
BASHIR: We`ve had Rush Limbaugh. Let me just get...
BREITBART: What...
BASHIR: If I...
BREITBART: -- have I not told the truth about?
BASHIR: I must get...
BREITBART: What have I not...
BASHIR: I want...
BREITBART: -- told the truth about?
BASHIR: -- I want to ask you a question.
BREITBART: You started this off...
BASHIR: I want to ask you a question...
BREITBART: OK.
What have I not told the truth about?
BASHIR: Let me ask you a question.
This week, Marilyn Davenport, a Republican official in Orange County, sent an e-mail to a number of colleagues featuring President Obama dressed and in a family of apes.
BREITBART: Are you asking me about this?
What do I have to do with that?
BASHIR: I want to ask you, what do you think of that image?
BREITBART: It`s deplorable. It`s -- it`s deplorable. It`s reprehensible. And you`re trying to create...
BASHIR: When...
BREITBART: -- you`re trying to insinuate that I`m a racist here, which is what MSNBC does to conservatives every single day. This entire context of this conversation is what the NAACP and what the Democratic Party has been doing to the Tea Party...
BASHIR: No, I haven`t...
BREITBART: -- for the last...
BASHIR: I haven`t spoken...
BREITBART: -- year.
BASHIR: -- I haven`t spoken to any (INAUDIBLE)...
BREITBART: That is the entire context of this...
BASHIR: Why didn`t you...
BREITBART: -- the subtext...
BASHIR: -- why didn`t you...
BREITBART: -- of this interview.
BASHIR: Andrew, why didn`t you, when you published Shirley Sherrod`s comments, the 136 seconds and your voluminous article, as you rightly point out, why didn`t you stand up and defend her and say, actually, she`s not a racist?
Why did you write things like, she`s racely -- racially discriminated against a white farmer...
BREITBART: Because the rest of the video showed different things that - - that were -- that illuminated something that -- that was not as black and white...
BASHIR: Right. So what...
BREITBART: -- as you would like...
BASHIR: -- what we do is we...
BREITBART: -- life (INAUDIBLE).
BASHIR: -- some bits of the information...
BREITBART: -- and she said...
BASHIR: -- and we don`t use others?
BREITBART: No, no, no. She said that I...
BASHIR: That`s what we do.
BREITBART: Well, what -- why don`t you hold her accountable for saying that I wanted to bring black people -- black to -- back to slavery?
She, on day one, said this was the NAACP`s fault. A week later, she said this has nothing to do with the NAACP, this is about Andrew Breitbart. She got -- somebody told her, we need to target Andrew Breitbart at this point. She, on day one, the NAACP understood perfectly well what the context of this video was.
And I successfully stopped their waging the campaign, that MSNBC was party to, to try to falsely frame the race...
BASHIR: Andrew...
BREITBART: -- the part...
BASHIR: -- Andrew...
BREITBART: -- the Tea Party...
BASHIR: -- I wasn`t...
BREITBART: -- is racist.
BASHIR: I wasn`t -- I wasn`t there (INAUDIBLE).
BREITBART: I know. I`m not talking about...
BASHIR: Let me...
BREITBART: -- MSNBC...
BASHIR: -- let me...
BREITBART: -- you...
BASHIR: -- let me move on...
BREITBART: -- I`m talking...
BASHIR: -- to the book.
BREITBART: -- about MSNBC.
BASHIR: I`m trying to focus on your book. I`m pulling out material from your book.
In the book, you talk about bloggers, citizen journalists who have implied that the president`s autobiography, "Dreams from My Father," was actually written by, quote -- I`m quoting -- "the domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers."
BREITBART: Yes. I think that that`s -- I -- first of all, that`s...
BASHIR: Is there any evidence...
BREITBART: -- it is...
BASHIR: -- is there any evidence...
BREITBART: The Jack Cashill...
BASHIR: -- to support that?
BREITBART: -- the Jack Cashill articles on that are -- are very compelling. It`s -- it`s clearly if the...
BASHIR: But what is the evidence?
BREITBART: -- it is clearly a theory...
BASHIR: What is the evidence?
BREITBART: -- and I had said that I believe it.
BASHIR: What is the evidence?
BREITBART: And this is an opinion. You`re not going to shut down dissent in this country...
BASHIR: I`m not...
BREITBART: -- I believe...
BASHIR: I`m not asking you to do that.
BREITBART: -- it`s (INAUDIBLE). Read the...
BASHIR: -- of the fact...
BREITBART: -- Jack Cashill...
BASHIR: -- that Bill Ayers...
BREITBART: -- article. I believe that it -- I believe...
BASHIR: What`s the evidence?
BREITBART: -- that it`s a compelling argument. It`s a very complex argument, but I would say that most peo...
BASHIR: Mr. Ayers has denied doing this.
BREITBART: Yes, well, he`s also said that he has.
BASHIR: But he`s denied ever...
BREITBART: But he`s also...
BASHIR: -- ghost writing...
BREITBART: -- said that he has.
BASHIR: -- the (INAUDIBLE).
BREITBART: But he also has said that he has...
BASHIR: You see...
BREITBART: -- he has also said that he has.
BASHIR: Here we have a problem, you see, because we have...
BREITBART: I`m allowed to have this opinion.
BASHIR: -- we have Shirley Sherrod, we have Rush, we have you...
BREITBART: Rush Limbaugh didn`t do anything...
BASHIR: -- quoting people like, suggesting that they`re ghost writers.
Do you see how your...
BREITBART: That`s nothing wrong with having...
BASHIR: You...
BREITBART: -- if...
BASHIR: -- what...
BREITBART: -- if you`ve read through my entire book -- you didn`t read my book.
BASHIR: I...
BREITBART: Media Matters read it for you. Every...
BASHIR: Sorry, I`ve...
BREITBART: -- single thing...
BASHIR: -- I`ve marked it up.
BREITBART: -- every...
BASHIR: I`ve read the whole thing.
BREITBART: -- every single point...
BASHIR: I`ve read the whole thing.
BREITBART: -- that you`ve offered...
BASHIR: Yes?
BREITBART: -- is straight out of George Soros` funded and John Podesta`s led Media Matters.
(LAUGHTER)
BASHIR: No...
BREITBART: You are playing the role of...
BASHIR: Absolutely not.
BREITBART: -- a dupe of -- of -- of John Podesta and Eric Boehlert and Media Matters. Every time I appear on MSNBC -- or a lot of times -- there`s Eric Boehlert from Media Matters to be right there.
Those are talking points...
BASHIR: No, no, no...
BREITBART: -- straight out of...
BASHIR: Andrew, you and I...
BREITBART: -- Media Matters.
BASHIR: -- you and I are having...
BREITBART: This is...
BASHIR: -- a conversation about...
BREITBART: No, we`re not. And you`re...
BASHIR: -- about truth.
BREITBART: No, we are.
BASHIR: And you...
BREITBART: Media Matters is over there. George Soros is sitting over there and -- and Bill Ayers is sitting over here.
BASHIR: Well...
BREITBART: You have -- you -- you have agenda-driven journalism. I support it. I support it. I support MSNBC. I support Keith Olbermann, when he was fined by MSNBC because the implication that he was giving money was somehow ethically wrong when everybody knows where he comes from. Everybody knows where you`re coming from.
I believe...
(LAUGHTER)
BREITBART: -- I believe in a back and forth.
BASHIR: OK, Andrew.
Well, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us today.
