Quote and Comment

November 16, 2012

Is there anyone with the same power and visibility who flat out makes stuff up like Roger Ailes?

I don’t think there is. (See this one, for example. Or this.) Here’s what he said the other day to TVNewser’s Chris Ariens:

When I saw the President say, ‘I know you all voted for me,’ and a thousand people stood up and cheered and applauded and then when the applause died down, he said, ‘Oh probably except you guys at the Fox table.’ I thought, ‘Am I the only guy in this room doing his job?’ They set up Freedom of the Press. The press is supposed to watch the powerful. And not throw in with them. And when I watched a thousand people stand and cheer and applaud I thought, ‘Uh oh. Somebody better do this job.’

As soon as I read that quote, I knew it was Roger’s fantasy. Because I had watched the speech. And if the Washington press corps had gotten to its feet at the mention of “all of you voted for me,” I would have remembered it. It would have been a big deal at the time. But it wasn’t. Because the standing ovation never happened.

See for yourself. Go to 1:35 in the above clip. Obama’s joke is, “I am Barack Obama. Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.” Lots of laughter. Lots of applause. Some cheering too. No one gets to their feet. No “a thousand people stand and cheer and applaud.” Ailes just made that up.

3:10pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZdoMYyXPDBn6
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(Notes: 17)