Moments ago, Jake Tapper of ABC News asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs why conservative groups telling their members about congressional constituent meetings and telling them to make their voices heard would be any different from a liberal group doing the same. Gibbs replied that the conservative groups have “bragged about manufacturing anger.”

Name one who put it that way, Mr. Gibbs.

Later in the briefing, Gibbs recognized Ahmadinejad as the elected leader of Iran, and refused to specify if anyone in the administration approved of Bill Clinton’s trip to North Korea.

It would seem Mr. Gibbs is having a rough day.

UPDATE: Jake Tapper transcribes the exchange:

TAPPER: A couple questions. One, is it your contention — is it the White House contention that the anger that some members of Congress are experiencing at town hall meetings, especially over health care reform, is manufactured?
GIBBS: I think some of it is, yes. In fact, I think you’ve had groups today, Conservatives for Patients Rights, that have bragged about organizing and manufacturing that anger.
TAPPER: How is their organizing and getting people to come to town hall meetings and express their feelings any different from a liberal group doing the same thing?
GIBBS: Well, I think what you’ve seen is they have — they have bragged about — about manufacturing, to some degree, that anger. I think you’ve got somebody who’s very involved, a leader of that group that’s very involved in — in the status quo, a CEO that used to run a health care company that was fined by the federal government $1.7 billion for fraud. I think that’s a lot of what you need to know about the motives of that group.

In a world where Michael Vick gets a second chance and we’re negotiating with the Taliban, the idea that 1997 controversy over Medicare fraud invalidates everything Richard Scott has to say is a tough sell. For perspective, back when Scott’s company was facing fraud charges, Barack Obama was being elected to his first public office.