In the midst of a showdown over how the government will increase the debt ceiling by Aug. 2, President Barack Obama blamed a splintered news media for lack of compromise between the parties and stressed that President Abraham Lincoln believed in compromise.
Obama spoke to a packed Ritchie Coliseum at the University of Maryland Friday as part of a town hall meeting promoting what he called a “balanced approach” to reducing the federal deficit – which he believes includes increasing taxes on high earners along with cuts.
In response to a question, the president talked about the merits of compromise before saying the media shoulders much of the blame.
“You’ve got a media that has become much more splintered,” Obama said. “So those of you who are of a Democratic persuasion are only reading The New York Times and watching MSNBC and if you are on the right, then you’re only reading the Wall Street Journal editorial page and watching Fox News.”
