Howard Kurtz interviewed Tony Snow on Reliable Sources this Sunday. Snow defended his recent handling of NBC correspondent David Gregory:
KURTZ: But when you say to David Gregory — you’re asking a question in a partisan way…
SNOW: Yes.
KURTZ: And a few months ago you accused him of asking a question that reflected the Democratic point of view.
SNOW: Right.
KURTZ: That is a really serious charge for a lot of journalists.
SNOW: Well, and I will tell you why. Because, number one, it did not reflect the stated views and approaches of the commission itself. I mean, what they had said.
Secondly, I’d only heard that particular formulation through a partisan lens as a critique of the president, rather than as a critique of — or a characterization of the report itself. Again, if you want to take a look at this, Lee Hamilton and Jim Baker both took pains to say, this is an opportunity to work in a bipartisan basis, we’re not here to look back, we’re not here to criticize.
The problem with Gregory’s question – ”Can this report be seen as anything other than a rejection of this president’s handling of the war?” — is that it was never meant to elicit a serious answer. It was designed to put Snow in an impossible position on television, and no one should be surprised that he pushed back.
Full transcript available at CNN.com.
Video here.