White House angry over NBC edit of Bush response to question about Iran comment in speech
Associated Press | May 20, 08 12:00 AM CDT
The White House called out NBC News for what Bush aides called "deceitful" editing of an interview in which the president is asked whether comments about the president of Iran were directed at Barack Obama.
Bush aides were angered by how the president's answer was portrayed when correspondent Richard Engel questioned him about his address last week to the Israeli Knesset. NBC stood by its treatment of the interview Monday.
Bush had mentioned the president of Iran in his speech, and said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."
Obama's campaign considered that statement an attack on him, which the White House has denied.
Engel asked Bush if he was referring to the Democratic presidential contender.
As it appeared on "Nightly News" Sunday and the "Today" show Monday, Bush's response was: "You know, my policies haven't changed, but evidently the political calendar has ... And when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy Israel, you've got to take those words seriously."
The White House said NBC edited the following passage from between those sentences: "People need to read the speech. You didn't get it exactly right, either. What I said was that we need to take the words of people seriously."
Bush counsel Ed Gillespie, in a letter to NBC News President Steve Capus, said that "this deceitful editing to further a media-manufactured storyline is utterly misleading and irresponsible." He asked that the network air Bush's response in full on the two programs.
NBC countered by saying the unedited interview has been available since Sunday on the network's Web site, and that the reporting accurately reflects the interview. The extra sentences by Bush were included during a report on Sunday's "Today" show.
"Just as the White House does not participate in the editorial process at the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal or USA Today, NBC News, as part of a free press in a free society, makes its own editorial decisions," NBC said in a statement.
In NBC's nightly newscast on Monday, anchor Brian Williams noted that the White House objected to how it presented the Bush interview. That didn't satisfy Gillespie, who issued another statement moments later. "It's simply absurd for people to have to log onto the Internet and stream video to get accurate information from NBC News," he said.
The White House routinely pushes back against news stories it does not agree with. The one against NBC News stands out for its angry tone and its accusation that the news division deceptively and deceitfully edited the president's words.
Gillespie brought up some other grievances, too, including NBC News coverage of the Iraq war and the country's economic woes. The White House was not happy when NBC News decided to call the situation in Iraq a "civil war" _ and called attention to its decision.
Gillespie said NBC News has quietly stopped referring to a civil war in Iraq. Capus said it was better to discuss the other issues "in a more appropriate forum."
NBC News has angered Democrats this year, too. The Clinton campaign has been unhappy with Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann, along with NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert's declaration after last week's primaries that Obama was the Democratic nominee.
Clinton is running a campaign ad in Oregon, where there is a primary on Tuesday, in which the announcer says, "In Washington, they talk about who's up and who's down. In Oregon, we care about what's right and what's wrong." Pictures are shown of Russert, Matthews and Olbermann, and the only non-NBC personality depicted was George Stephanopoulos of ABC News.
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AP writer Ben Feller contributed to this report.
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