by Mark Silva
Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary and author of the disputed tell-all book about the Bush White House's misleading ways, was asked on MSNBC's Hardball last week if the White House saw FOX News as a "tool'' for getting the president's word out.
"I make a distinction between the journalists and... the commentators,'' McClellan said. "There were commentators and other pundits of FOX News that were helpful to the White House... Certainly we got talking points to those people.''
He mentioned Bill O'Reilly in the mix.
"I never once received a talking point from the White House, so McClellan is not telling the truth about me,'' O'Reilly responded on his own The O'Reilly Factor on FOX. "Should I be angry? Naaah. But I have to call a lie a lie.''
And then O'Reilly got McClellan on his radio show, The Radio Factor: "The truth is, I messed up,'' McClellan told O'Reilly. "I was specifically not trying to single anyone out, including you.''
The truth is, the White House distributes taliking points all the time. They're called "Fact Sheets,'' and they tout the claimed advantages and distilled highlights of presidential action and initiatives on all sorts of fronts. They're distributed to the media widely, for use by whomever or whenever anyone in the media sees fit.
And the truth is, as McClellan put it on Hardball, every administration has its friends in the media whom it reaches out to for help. Vice President Dick Cheney, for one, has spent a lot more time with Sean Hannity than with Chris Matthews.
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Comments
"And the truth is, as McClellan put it on Hardball, every administration has its friends in the media whom it reaches out to for help. Vice President Dick Cheney, for one, has spent a lot more time with Sean Hannity than with Chris Matthews."
And the truth is, your innuendo about Cheney is an unsubstantiated slime job. Whether or not one likes Cheney - or for that matter Hannity - you are wrong to imply an improper relationship exists between them. What is this, a high school gossip rag?
Posted by: Brian Carroll | July 30, 2008 8:41 AM
Scott McClellan is showing that he is a bad man. His book is full of BS and now that he is out in the left wing media, he is spouting more BS, or at least fudging the truths.
Do White Houses and even campaigns put out talking points? Yes. Shoot, the mainstream media basically is nothing more than a shill for the Obama campaign. The Clinton White House put out talking points to the media, and especially its friends in the media, all the time.
I thought McClellan was a rotten press spokesman and he has been proving that over and over in the past few months.
Posted by: John D | July 30, 2008 8:47 AM
Talking points given to fox is no surprise to anyone. It is definately not innuendo. It something that they all know is going on but are afraid to admit it because they don't want their closet looked into. FOX has been in the "hip pocket" of this administration from day one. With O'Reilly and the idiot ring leader. He and that entire network are a joke. McClellan just said someting out loud that was to be kept secret.
Posted by: Malex | July 30, 2008 9:00 AM
On Bended Knee: The press during the Reagan administration by Mark Hertsgaard shows how it's done. Repugs have done this for years--the same way they've stolen elections for years. Apparently McClellan realized too late that he didn't have the 'chain of command' down enough to say something that corporate media would find embarassing. Also read LInda Ellerbee's book.
McClellan had it right the first time, just didn't have enough to let it stick.
Posted by: Geraldine "hussein" Too reminding you without Hillary as veep they can steal it again | July 30, 2008 9:08 AM
No mention of the talking points the Democrats give to The Swamp?
Posted by: Johnny E | July 30, 2008 9:32 AM
Media multipliers with marching orders from the Pentagon, spoon-fed talking points to Faux News from the WH, the Lincoln Group on the take from the Pentagon to publish fake and rosy stories from Iraq and softball-lobbing plants in the WH press room. Goebbels would be proud.
Posted by: Bubba | July 30, 2008 9:56 AM
That's right Scott, you messed up, and how many times might that have happened to ya????Congress is going after people based on some of this Scott telling it straight stuff too. That's good it happened. It showed Scott for the opportunist that he is.
Posted by: Teresa Halter | July 30, 2008 10:25 AM
A slimeball (Matthews) takes advantage of an idiot (McClellan) by baiting him and putting words in his mouth. That's fantastic. And MSNBC wonders why they get slaughtered in the ratings and only wackjobs watch their programs.
Posted by: Herbie H. | July 30, 2008 12:02 PM
For Bill O'Really(?) to call anyone a liar is a joke. He's a jingoistic spin doctor on par with Rush Limbaugh.
Posted by: sawtooth | July 30, 2008 12:50 PM
Fox News is a propaganda outlet, not a real news organization, so the people who regularly tune in to that channel are hearing exactly what they want to hear. Of course they parrot the talking points of the Bush Admin. and the McCain campaign. That's what they're paid for.
Posted by: Tom O | July 30, 2008 1:18 PM
TomO-that goes for all the other stations as well, and they have dismal ratings, Fox is KING. CNN is better but no FOX. It's suppose to be a busines but they sure aren't to worried about appealing to the majority of listeners......maybe it's about politics instead ha!
Posted by: Teresa Halter | July 30, 2008 4:19 PM
What I found funny is how other networks, such as CNN, so quickly jumped on the "The Whitehouse sends Bill O'Reilly talking points" bandwagon.
Just like Rather's problem with facts, it was too good to be true.
Many of the comments posted above show the "fake but accurate" mentality.
Scott McClellan has stated unambiguously that he did not send talking points to O'Reilly nor does he know of anybody that did. I guess that's not relevant to someone who doesn't care to have facts interefer with their beliefs.
Posted by: Charlie | July 30, 2008 4:54 PM