In an interview with Al Hunt of Bloomberg, Anita Dunn offers a fairly definitive answer to the question about whether the President of the United States gave his stamp of approval on launching a war on FOX News:
HUNT: Just - just - just a follow-on on this. Was President Obama aware ahead of time that you were going to criticize FOX?
DUNN: You know, the - I am not a person who is known for going rogue, OK?
Just a bit prior, Dunn used the same phrasing in response to a similar question from Hunt:
HUNT: Let me ask you about your famous broadside against FOX News.
DUNN: Absolutely.
HUNT: Was that just Anita Dunn talking, or was that something you and Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod planned ahead of time?
DUNN: Well, you know, Al, I am not exactly one known for going rogue, to use a popular phrase these days.
In other words, the White House's assault on FOX News was a carefully choreographed effort planned by Dunn, Emanuel, Axelrod, and President Obama himself.
Lastly, Dunn made clear that she "absolutely" considers MSNBC a different (which is, in the context of this debate, a synonym for "legitimate") news network:
HUNT: Does MSNBC have a political agenda, too?
DUNN: You know, it's interesting, because that, of course, is what gets thrown back. And, obviously, your friend, Karl Rove, who you quoted earlier, declared war on them during the previous administration, and you may recall that FOX actually applauded Karl for doing that.
Now, I will say this: MSNBC has as their host of their morning program a former Republican congressman who was a member of Newt Gingrich's revolution. That, I think -
HUNT: So you think they're different than FOX?
DUNN: Well, but I also think that their opinion shows - their opinion shows absolutely have an opinion -
HUNT: But as a network, they're different.
DUNN: - but I do regard them as different as a network, absolutely. |