Mediaite » Wolf Blitzer

Wolf Blitzer Excitedly Exclaims ‘OMG’ Over Rick Santorum’s Colorado Comeback

James Crugnale — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:57:06 +0000

As the Colorado election results stretched on through the night and Rick Santorum‘s surprising vote count began to roll in, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer became downright giddy. Anderson Cooper observed that The Situation Room host said ‘OMG’ during the break.

“I’ll repeat it — Oh em gee!” Blitzer exclaimed. “Look at this — Right now, 64% of the precincts are in. Rick Santorum is 75 votes ahead of Mitt Romney in Colorado. 12,564 to 12,489. 75 votes! Let’s walk over to John King. Let’s get a little better assessment. I said it last time, I said it was Iowa. Remember what happened in Iowa?! That was worthy of an OMG. Right now in Colorado we have an OMG going on!”

John King grinned amusedly at Blitzer’s tween slang.

“I’m trying to figure out how to top that,” King joked. “There’s no LOL at Mitt Romney headquarters.”

Watch Blitzer’s OMG moment below via CNN:

(h/t BuzzFeed)

Wolf Blitzer During Election Coverage: ‘People Are Dying In Syria Because They’d Like To Have A Caucus’

James Crugnale — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:16:31 +0000

During CNN’s caucus-saturated election night coverage Tuesday, reports of heavy fighting in Syria interrupted the telecast, which prompted Wolf Blitzer to make a comment on the democratic proceedings of the night. “It sounds corny, Anderson,” Blitzer observed. “Every time we see these little actions, caucuses unfold, democracy in action, as we’re speaking, people are dying in Syria because they would like to have a caucus, they’d like to have a primary. They can’t have one. We’re having ours here in the United States. Let’s keep some perspective on what’s going on.”

Following Blitzer’s statement, Cooper noted that the Obama Administration was “reviewing options for Syria, looking forward to military options, unlikely a strike but perhaps one option would be arming the free Syrian army, just beginning to explore options right now.”

Watch Blitzer’s comments below via CNN:

Wolf Blitzer Grills Trump On Endorsement, Asks: Is This Going To Help Or Hurt Romney?

James Crugnale — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:28:27 +0000

Fresh off his endorsement of Republican hopeful Mitt Romney, real estate mogul Donald Trump appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room and faced tough questioning from anchor Wolf Blitzer. Blitzer cited a CNN poll that showed high disapproval ratings for Trump, asking “Is this going to help Mitt Romney — your endorsement or hurt Mitt Romney?”

“I guess it’s going to help because everyone wants it,” Trump replied. “When I was thinking of running, Meet The Press did a poll and I was number one the day before I decided to go and do The Apprentice…I was leading in all the polls. A recent poll came out of which Independent would you most like to see run and I was easily number one in that one. So you can quote all you want, but the polls that matter are those two polls. When I was running, I was number one the day before I left. Check out Meet The Press, your favorite show!”

“My favorite show is The Situation Room,” Blitzer quipped. “But that’s another story.”

Blitzer also asked Trump about Romney’s comments to Soledad O’Brien that he wasn’t concerned with “the very poor.”

“I think it was very unfair reporting actually because he said I have a safety net and I’ll fix it if necessary, and i thought that was — there are many people that don’t understand what the press is talking about,” Trump observed. “I always did nicely in English and if you set that sentence run-on, as did he, some people don’t let it run on, there was — it could have been said differently, i guess. Everything could be said differently, but he talked about a safety net and he talked about fixing it if he had to.”

Watch Trump defend his endorsement of Romney below via CNN:

Chris Wallace: Number Of GOP Debates Is ‘Ridiculous’ And ‘Insane’: ‘They’re All Stupid’

Frances Martel — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:09:56 +0000

It turns out that moderating several Republican debates does not actually make one immune to thinking that there may be too many of them this time around. Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace visited radio host Mike Gallagher to talk about Thursday’s debate, and ended up instead talking about debates generally, and how “ridiculous” the fact that there have been nineteen of them is.

Wallace told Gallagher that “it is ridiculous how many debates there have been– this is the nineteenth debate. It is insane that there have been nineteen debates!” to which Gallagher replied that the debates had become something of a reality show. Wallace noted that he had “been party” to four debates and it was difficult to come up with questions after a while, since they have already outlined their policies multiple times. The causes moderators to instead ask about personal attacks between the candidates. “I’m not saying it’s a great moment in journalism,” he clarified, “but on the other hand, they have been asked about almost everything a million times.”

After a comical exchange in which Gallagher tried to talk but Wallace complained he didn’t give him enough time, the former noted that “nobody ever booed Chris Wallace,” to which Wallace objected, joking that he was “still in therapy” for getting booed when asking Gingrich whether reports that his campaign was “a mess” were valid. Wallace then noted that, unlike himself and other moderators, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer had the State of the Union address to work with, and not discussing it was a “huge failure.”

After playing the exchange where Gingrich got feisty with Blitzer for a question about his attacks on Romney, Wallace began once again to analyze the clip before again repeating, “why on earth did they think it was good to have nineteen debates?” and later adding, before his point on Romney, that “they’re all stupid” and “people are not tuning in” to learn about policy: “it’s like you’re tuning in to a car race, you really want to see if there’s a wreck.”

The clip from the Mike Gallagher Show below:

[h/t]

Bill O’Reilly And Bernie Goldberg Praise Wolf Blitzer’s Debate Takedown Of Newt Gingrich

Frances Martel — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:50:00 +0000

Bill O’Reilly and Bernie Goldberg aren’t usually the ones first in line to heap praise upon their competitors over at CNN, but last night they had nothing but good words for Wolf Blitzer‘s performance as moderator of CNN’s latest Republican debate, particularly in shutting down Newt Gingrich. Unlike John King, who Goldberg suggested was trying to “start a food fight” with his question on Gingrich’s marriages, both host and guest agreed that Blitzer was attacked for asking a legitimate question, and that the audience at home was on his side.

“You know that the CNN suits told Blitzer… ‘if [Gingrich] comes after you, you better slap him back– no more John King stuff,” O’Reilly told Goldberg, adding that Blitzer did a “pretty good job” of telling Gingrich, “don’t give me any garbage.” Goldberg agreed, adding that “it is legitimate to go after a reporter or moderator if he asks you an unreasonable or unfair question that shows his own biases,” but that Blitzer had not done that. Goldberg also noted that the audience booed Blitzer, but considered it a “reflexive reaction” towards the mainstream media, because Blitzer “did absolutely– in my view– nothing wrong.”

While those in the audience did boo, O’Reilly countered that “the people at home, I don’t think that they were mad at Blitzer” because Gingrich had raised the issue himself in other interviews, and it was a legitimate one. He then turned to King’s question about Gingrich’s open marriage, and noted that he would have approached it much differently. “I would not have asked that question at the top of the interview [sic]… and when I did ask the question, I would have framed it this way,” O’Reilly explained, not mentioning the accusation and asking instead, “do you feel it’s going to hurt your campaign?”

“John King was trying to start a food fight,” Goldberg replied, noting that if King had brought the subject up at the end of the debate “that would have been Newt Gingrich’s problem” if he was upset. Gingrich’s attack the media tactic, Goldberg concluded, does not work if “you’re picking at every little thing.”

The segment via Fox News below:

Wolf Blitzer Tells Anderson Cooper Why ‘He Didn’t Back Down’ To Newt Gingrich

James Crugnale — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:19:01 +0000

During a post-debate breakdown, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer spoke with Anderson Cooper about his pointed questions to Newt Gingrich and why he decided to press the former Speaker of the House on Mitt Romney‘s bank accounts.

“A really interesting exchange,” Cooper observed. “It contributes to the idea that a lot of people felt Newt Gingrich was flat tonight.”

“You know, he was the one who raised the issue of the Cayman Islands, the Swiss bank account,” Blitzer noted. “He made a serious allegation against Romney. I thought it would be a great opportunity to clarify, explain what he meant about it. He didn’t want to talk about it — when I finally pressed him, he responded.”

“There have been a number of allegations on the campaign trail that showed up…” Cooper continued. “There was a campaign commercial that Mitt Romney is running in which he said that Newt Gingrich said spanish is the language of the ghetto. He didn’t say that word for word. He implied it several years ago. What did you think of that exchange?”

“On so many exchanges, Mitt Romney was taking it to Newt, but that one was confusion,” Blitzer explained. “Most viewers, unless they’re fact checkers, they got lost on that one.”

Watch the segment below via CNN:

(h/t HuffPo)

Rick Santorum On Why He’s Most Electable: I Didn’t Buy Into ‘Global Warming Hoax’

James Crugnale — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:11:43 +0000

During the last question of the night at the Florida GOP presidential debate on CNN, moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Rick Santorum why he was the candidate most likely to defeat President Obama. Santorum explained his differences with Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, giving a laundry list of policy contrasts, perhaps most notably on climate change. “Cap and trade!” Santorum exclaimed. “Both of them bought into the global warming hoax!”

Santorum’s blunt climate denial blew the minds of much of Twitter — which briefly made his response a trending topic.

The typically unshockable Ben Smith of BuzzFeed tweeted incredulously, “Santorum: “Global warming hoax.” Haven’t heard him say that before.” Grist’s David Roberts schooled Smith by saying he’s said it many, many times.

For instance, Santorum told Glenn Beck last summer, “there was no such thing as global warming“:

Beck: What about global warming?

Santorum: There is no such thing as global warming. It is, in my opinion, there are hundreds of factors that cause the Earth to warm and cool, and the trace gas — of which human participation in this trace gas — is …

Despite Santorum’s statement, 97% of climate scientists agree that human activity is causing climate change.

Watch Santorum’s global warming exchange below via CNN:

Wolf Blitzer Busts Mitt Romney Over Anti-Newt Gingrich ‘Ghetto Language’ Ad

Tommy Christopher — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:14:40 +0000

At Thursday night’s Republican Presidential Debate in Florida, former Gov. Mitt Romney tried to play coy when asked about an ad that accuses former Speaker Newt Gingrich of calling Spanish a ghetto language, telling moderator Wolf Blitzer “I haven’t seen the ad, so I’m sorry, I don’t get to see all the TV ads,” and later added, “I doubt that’s my ad.”

Several minutes later, Blitzer circled back, and said that CNN had verified that the ad was Romney’s (not a SuperPAC’s), and asked him to explain, again.

It was something of a two-fer for Blitzer, forcing Romney to take responsibility for the ad, while making Gingrich explain these comments, from a 2008 speech:

“We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and so they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.”

When forst asked about the ad, Romney played dumb, responding, “I haven’t seen the ad, so I’m sorry, I don’t get to see all the TV ads. Did he say that?”

Gingrich first tried to explain (without using the word “ghetto”) that he wasn’t talking about Spanish, but about every language other than English. However, Gingrich posted an apology in Spanish on YouTube several days after those 2008 remarks.

Romney then prefaced his own “English only” position by saying “I doubt that’s my ad, but we’ll take a look and find out.”

Several questions later, Blitzer circled back. “We did double check, just now, Governor, that ad that we talked about…we double checked, it was one of your ads, it is running here in Florida on the radio, and at the end you say ‘I’m Mitt Romney and I approved this ad.”

Romney, again, acted as if he was unfamiliar with the quote. “Let me ask you a question — let me ask the Speaker a question. Did you say what the ad says or not?”

“It’s taken totally out of context,” Gingrich replied.

“Okay, he said it,” Romney snapped, triumphantly.

Gingrich responded “I did not say it about Spanish. I said in general. About all languages. We are better for children to learn English in general. Period.”

It’s unclear how “Yours isn’t the only language I think is ghetto talk!” will go over as a bumper sticker.

Here’s the exchange, followed by the Romney ad:

Romney’s ad, “Hechos”:

English Transcript:

VOICEOVER: “Newt Gingrich claims to be a Reagan conservative. Let’s review the facts. Gingrich said that he would not change the failed policy of Barack Obama on travel to Cuba that serves to fill the regime’s coffers and increase repression on the island. I don’t think Reagan would agree with Gingrich.”

VOICEOVER: “Gingrich profited from Freddie Mac, one of the reasons for the mortgage collapse that has caused so much damage in our community.”

VOICEOVER: “Reagan would have never partnered-up with Nancy Pelosi to advance the extreme left agenda, as Gingrich did.”

VOICEOVER: “And Reagan definitely would have never offended us, Hispanics, as Gingrich did by saying that Spanish is the language of the ghetto. Now, searching for votes, Gingrich wants to change history but the facts speak for themselves.”

VOICEOVER: “Paid for by Romney for President, Incorporated.”

MITT ROMNEY: “I am Mitt Romney. I am running for President and I approve this message.”

Newt Gingrich And Mitt Romney Slug It Out In Heated Immigration Argument

James Crugnale — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:53:04 +0000

Leading off CNN’s GOP debate in Florida, Republican presidential contenders Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney duked it out over immigration. Moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Gingrich if he thought Romney was the most anti-immigrant GOP candidate “I think of the four of us, yes,” Gingrich responded. “That’s simply inexcusable,” angrily replied Romney.

“Senator Marco Rubio came to my defense and said that ad was inflammatory and inappropriate. I’m not anti-immigrant. my father was born in Mexico! My wife’s father was born in Wales. They came to this country. The idea that I’m anti-immigrant is repulsive! You can say we disagree on policies but to say that enforcing the US law to protect our borders, to welcome people here legally, to expand legal immigration as I have proved — that that is anti-immigrant? It’s simply the kind of over-the-top rhetoric that’s characterized American politics too long and I’m glad that Marco Rubio called you out on it. I think you should apologize for it and recognize that having differences of opinions does not justify labeling people with highly charged epithets.”

Watch the heated exchange below via CNN:

Wolf Blitzer Calls Out Piers Morgan For Saying John King ‘Attacked’ Gingrich

James Crugnale — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:02:18 +0000

During CNN’s election coverage of the South Carolina primary results, Wolf Blitzer “corrected” Piers Morgan for saying fellow network colleague John King “attacked” Newt Gingrich when he asked the former Speaker of the House about the “open marriage” controversy. “I want to make one correction,” Blitzer acknowledged. “I know what you meant, but your wording wasn’t precise, when you said John King attacked Newt Gingrich. He asked the question, and you of course, as anyone knows, it’s one thing to ask a question of a candidate, an important question, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re attacking him.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” exclaimed Morgan. “And let me say for the record, I thought it was a fantastic question and absolutely a valid thing to top the debate with. And it was probably the most talked about moment of all the debates that we’ve seen so far, but of course, it also had the effect galvanizing Newt Gingrich into this tour de force reaction to that question which I’m certain had a huge impact on his success tonight. So he ought to be really thanking John King. But you’re right, it wasn’t an attack, it was a very valid journalistic question.”

Morgan had earlier interviewed Gingrich’s daughters and said “Your father likes nothing better than when everyone is attacking him, whether it’s his ex-wife, John King, my colleague, quite rightly taking him on or Mitt Romney or whoever it is, your dad likes it when the bullets are firing at him.”

Watch the segment below via CNN:

(h/t BuzzFeed)

Wolf Blitzer Asks The Huntsman Girls If They’re Single, It’s As Awkward As You’d Imagine

Jon Bershad — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:33:02 +0000

It’s a typical question. You get an attractive young person on your show, the interview’s winding down, so you ask them if they’re seeing anyone. We can’t fault Wolf Blitzer for asking it to Jon Huntsman’s daughters. Besides he was just asking them what his Twitter followers wanted to know. However, there was something in the way Blitzer asked the question which caused the ladies to recoil like their creepy uncle just said they were “developing well.” Basically it made this the most uncomfortable moment of the campaign season so far.

Kudos to Mary Anne Huntsman for attempting to defuse the tension. However, her attempt at talking about Blitzer’s “matchmaking abilities” only made things worse.

Don’t feel bad though, ladies. Weird Uncle Wolf may be bad, but at least he’s not your father…

Watch the clip from CNN below:

(h/t BuzzFeed)

Jon Stewart Mocks Holographic ‘Dildo People’ In CNN’s Iowa Coverage

Frances Martel — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:54:52 +0000

Jon Stewart had a lot on his plate today, with the Iowa caucuses cramming a week’s worth of news into the wee hours of the night early Wednesday morning. Stewart gave every candidate their turn, and praised everyone from Rick Santorum to Mitt Romney for sticking with it. One entity notably getting moans and groans from Stewart for its inanity: CNN, for its “weeble” cyber-illustration of the caucuses.

Stewart began with some footage of the actual Iowa caucuses, which he couldn’t bring himself to mock because they were so “beautiful.” “It looks like a historical reenactment,” he noted, suggesting that “it would be instructive for it to just play out in real time over the cameras.” Instead, CNN used “weebles,” what Stewart described as “cybernetic, multi-colored featureless dildo people” after he yelled “Why????” at the screen for a good minute. “There are rooms in 99 counties that are filled with real people demonstrating the thing that you are trying to explain!”

He then turned to the candidates, and had some good words for Rick Perry and his “completely unjustified enthusiasm after a fifth place ass-kicking,” mocked the Marcus Bachmann “doggie sunglasses moment,” and sat in awe as Rep. Ron Paul‘s crowd cheered Ludwig von Mises. “It’s like being at a Jimmy Buffet show and being like ‘why is everybody wearing a parrot on their head?’”

The segment via Comedy Central below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

CNN Gets The Help Of Iowa GOP Operatives ‘Edith And Carolyn’ To Solve Missing Vote Mystery

Frances Martel — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:02:54 +0000

CNN had a few great moments way past midnight tonight– the loosening of the proverbial tie happening somewhere around 1:30 AM. But the votes had still not come in, and an industrious producer put Wolf Blitzer in contact with the Clinton County, Iowa Republican Chairwoman, Edith Pfeffer, and the woman who woke her up to get the votes to CNN, Carolyn Talett.

Talett explained that she had “received a call at about 12:20 from state central committee asking if I knew how to get a hold of someone from 2-2.” This made her call Pfeffer, who didn’t answer her phone, so Talett “came to Edith’s home and pounded on her door and got her up.” After getting her up, CNN called.

Pfeffer explained that she had sent the results in at 7:48 PM, so she did not understand why she was still needed or what the state did with her votes. Since Pfeffer had the results of her precinct, and these were suspected to be the missing ones, Blitzer asked her to tally off the numbers for the county. “Oh, God,” Pfeffer replied, “I added them up a couple of times… oh man.” She did eventually get the votes together, which King put into his numbers. Adding them up, he gave the victory to Romney, but noted that “the numbers from the state do not add up with the numbers that we just received.” “What do you mean, the numbers don’t match?!” one of the ladies boomed, to which the commentators laughed, and King tried to explain.

Blitzer then concluded asking whether CNN had woken them up, or whether the state did it. “No, I woke her up!” Talett responded, noting that Pfeffer didn’t answer her phone.”Do you ladies have some fresh coffee?” King joked.

The interview via CNN below:

And they called back! Here is part 2 of CNN’s interview with Edith and Carolyn:

Watch The Entire CNN Team Lose It At 1:30 AM Waiting For Iowa Results

Frances Martel — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:30:46 +0000

Do you remember those all-nighters in college, during finals period, where everyone would mellow out for a bit before heading out for a cup of coffee and then have a collective caffeine-induced laughing fit over nothing in particular? Prepare to get nostalgic, because that is apparently what happened to the CNN Election Center crew around 1:30 AM tonight as they waited for election results, and a Magic Wall mishap sent the show spiraling out of control.

As Erin Burnett tried to explain a pie chart showing the way voters had veered related to what they considered the most important issue, using her new Magic Wall move, “the flick.” The “flick” somehow did not get the pie chart onto the second screen as attempted until the third try, by which Burnett and Gloria Borger were cracking up.

Anderson Cooper seemed to sense that all was lost and asked, “have we all just given up?” to which Ali Velshi responded “it is evident from the social media screen that people are going to sleep.” For no apparent reason, this made Cooper explode in laughter. “Again with the social media screen? This is the third hit and I still don’t understand what the hell this thing shows!” Velshi then tried to explain– but not before telling Roland Martin to stop laughing. It didn’t really seem to stop him– or anyone else on the set– from laughing.

The delightful late-night segment via CNN below:

Iowa Caucus Coverage: MSNBC, Fox News, CNN Vary On Having Opinion Hosts Anchor

Nando Di Fino — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:48:06 +0000

Tuesday night’s Iowa Caucus coverage will offer a wide array of television choices for every taste in cable news, with some channels opting for more entertainment than analysis. While Fox News and CNN are seeking some of their more buttoned up journalists for anchoring duties, and are pushing their more partisan/entertainment-focused anchors to post-coverage specials, MSNBC is pretty much giving up on the straight news coverage, and instead appears to be aiming to create some controversy… and maybe have some fun.

And it just might work.

First, the lineups:

Fox News (8 p.m. – 11 p.m.) Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly will anchor. Carl Cameron, Steve Brown, Shannon Bream, and John Roberts will contribute. A post-show will be hosted by Sean Hannity, followed by a second show, hosted by Greta Van Susteren. Fox Business Network, by the way, will have Neil Cavuto anchoring a show that features appearances from Herman Cain and Donald Trump.

MSNBC (6 p.m – midnight): Rachel Maddow will be the main anchor. Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Rev. Al Sharpton will contribute. Chris Hayes will host the post-show.

CNN (7 p.m. – midnight): Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and Erin Burnett will anchor. They’ll be joined by Candy Crowley, John King, Gloria Borger, David Gergen, James Carville, Ari Fleischer, Dana Loesch, and Roland Martin. Piers Morgan will host a post-show beginning at midnight.

While MSNBC’s decision to go with Maddow — who’s more an advocate than a “capital ‘J’ journalist” — may ruffle some feathers with traditionalists looking for typical newspeople to go over the results, it’s also hard to deny that their lineup may become the most fun. Five very strong personalities, all left-leaning (to various degrees), will be breaking down the Republican Iowa Caucus results — which are shrouded in mystery and can go several different ways. While CNN will trot out an army of analysts with at least two centuries of news and political experience under their combined belts, and Fox News will bring out your archetypal journalist (Baier) and news host (Kelly), MSNBC is featuring every star they have. Remember, this is coverage of a quirky caucus — not even a straight primary — during the first week in January.

In short, MSNBC’s move may offer a perfect complement to the other networks. For the old-school political die-hard, CNN’s crew of thousands will be able to analyze anything you can think of, from the right, left, or middle. And Fox News is trying to appear to have a more traditional presentation. MSNBC, meanwhile, seems to have thrown objectivity to the wind, and that could be a lot of fun. We’ll know by Wednesday afternoon where the viewers went, but if MSNBC’s team of entertaining hosts does well in the ratings, don’t be surprised to see the formula repeated throughout the primary season.

Rick Santorum Says He Only Endorsed Mitt Romney In 2008 Because He Didn’t Like John McCain

Jon Bershad — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:39:11 +0000

Last night, Rick Santorum appeared on CNN to discuss his recent surge in Iowa. The former Senator has been the latest candidate to steal the GOP heat away from Mitt Romney but the old standby hit back on Monday, reminding voters that he had received Santorum’s endorsement back in 2008. Santorum defended this endorsement to Wolf Blitzer, pointing out that he’d made it as late in the 2008 race as possible and only because he was looking for literally anyone who was better than John McCain.

That’s weird. It’s basically the same reason people are now flocking to him!

“First off, I endorsed Mitt Romney, I think, five days before Super Tuesday. I didn’t endorse anybody for a long time. My focus in the 2008 election was on making sure we had someone other than John McCain. That is what I was publicly stating because I thought that he would not be a strong candidate for us in the general election and I didn’t think he’d be the best candidate for us to do the things that were necessary for this country. And so, my principle purpose, I said this from the very beginning, was to wait and see who was the best able to beat John McCain when the time came.”

Romney had also attacked Santorum for being a “Washington insider” (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). Santorum responded to this charge by echoing the words of the last Non-Romney candidate to surge, Newt Gingrich. He told Blitzer that the only reason Romney wasn’t a career politician was because he’d failed at it.

Watch the clip from CNN below. And kudos to whichever directer decided to show Romney’s quote in split screen so we got to watch Santorum’s forced, rictus grin as he listened to it.

Rick Santorum Can’t Tell Wolf Blitzer How President Paul Would Differ From Obama

Frances Martel — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:57:41 +0000

With Rep. Ron Paul inching towards the Iowa caucuses in the top position, Wolf Blitzer‘s favorite question for his rivals for the Republican nomination, given Rep. Paul’s foreign policy views, has been to ask whether they can support Rep. Paul should he be the Republican nominee over President Obama. Newt Gingrich intimated that he may not be able to, while Mitt Romney could. Today, Rick Santorum got his turn, but in explaining that he would, he couldn’t seem to articulate a good reason why.

Blitzer opened up the subject of Ron Paul by noting that Iran was a “big issue” for Santorum, which he acknowledged, and asking whether he believed a Paul administration would be “dangerous.” “My concern is that Ron Paul would walk in on day one and pull all our troops back and bring them back to this country and leave and enormous void around the world,” Santorum responded. With that on the table, Blitzer then asked if he could vote for him. “Absolutely,” Santorum replied, adding that he hoped “enough pressure can be brought to bear on him if be becomes president that he won’t make these horrific decisions.” Blitzer was a bit skeptical of the idea of Rep. Paul being pressured into anything, and Santorum reiterated that he would “have to take a lot of antacids” when voting for Rep. Paul, but that he would do it.

Another thing Santorum argued was that “A second Barack Obama term, I’m not too sure will look that different from a Ron Paul administration.” Blitzer cornered him on this issue and asked whether Santorum believes Rep. Paul would have sent in drones to kill Osama bin Laden. Santorum did not, which made Blitzer confused as to how that would make him a better candidate than President Obama. “I don’t think he’d be markedly different,” Santorum replied.

The exchange via CNN below:

Et Tu, Mitt? Romney Tells Wolf Blitzer He Would Vote For Ron Paul Over Obama

Frances Martel — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:37:12 +0000

Wolf Blitzer‘s series of interviews with the Iowa frontrunners continued today with an exclusive look into the campaign lifestyle of Mitt Romney, in which the candidate detailed some more of his plan to gain traction and fight off his fellow Republican hopefuls. Blitzer ran him through several questions he gave Newt Gingrich the day before– particularly whether he would find himself voting Republican in November should Rep. Ron Paul win the nomination. Romney’s answer differed significantly from Gingrich’s.

Asked directly whether he could vote for Rep. Paul as a Republican nominee in the general election, Romney responded that he had “already crossed that river, if you will, by saying on stage a number of times… that all of the people on stage would be superior to the President we have.” Blitzer reminded Romney of some of Rep. Paul’s foreign policy positions, particularly that he was comfortable with Iran developing nuclear capabilities and did not see it as an existential threat to Israel. “I don’t agree with a lot of the things Ron Paul says,” Romney clarified, but “this is not a race about people on the stage who I don’t think should be the nominee– my race is about making me the nominee!”

Romney’s answer via CNN below:

Newt Gingrich Challenges Mitt Romney: ‘Be Man Enough’ To Accept One-On-One Debate

Frances Martel — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:04:29 +0000

Newt Gingrich stopped short of calling Mitt Romney a coward for not agreeing to a one-on-one, unmoderated debate today during his talk with Wolf Blitzer. Responding to Romney joking that Gingrich’s Virginia ballot gaffe was more “Lucille Ball at the chocolate factory” than Pearl Harbor, he demanded one-on-one time with the candidate. “Be man enough to own it,” he challenged.

“I’ll meet him anywhere in Iowa, for 90 minutes, just the two of us, in a debate, with a timekeeper and no moderator,” Gingrich told Blitzer after being shown the clip of Romney mocking him. “I’d like for him to have the courage to back his negative ads,” Gingrich continued, adding that he could not prove that he could beat President Obama at a debate without going through Gingrich. Blitzer noted that Romney had debate Gingrich, and “he was standing during those debates rather close to you.” That wasn’t enough for Gingrich, however, given the recent negative campaign. “If you want to run a negative campaign and want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it,” he replied.

On tonight’s John King USA, host Jessica Yellin asked Romney campaign strategist Russ Schriefer for a response, and he diagnosed Gingrich’s bravado as a response to his own campaign this week. “The was sort of a drive-by shooting,” he quipped, from “Happy Warrior Newt Gingrich, who is really lashing out because he has had a really bad week.”

The interview and Romney campaign reaction via CNN below:

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: ‘It Took Guts’ For Newt Gingrich To Attack Ron Paul Over Newsletter

Tommy Christopher — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:01:59 +0000

There was a lot to unpack in Wolf Blitzer‘s interview with GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich, but one thing that stood out was a panel discussion that Blitzer conducted following a clip of Gingrich’s attack on Rep. Ron Paul over his newsletters, among other things. The ostensibly objective Blitzer said he thought “it took guts” for Gingrich to come out against Paul so strongly, David Frum accused Paul of racism, and panelist Jonathan Prince said Paul was “racist by design.”

However you feel about the Ron Paul newsletter controversy, this was a remarkable several minutes of television on a network that poses itself as the straight-shooting last bastion of straight news on cable. During the interview, Gingrich blasted Ron Paul over the decades-old newsletters, and Blitzer kinda just let him. He failed to correct Gingrich when he said Paul “still hasn’t disowned” the newsletters, and again when Gingrich said Paul “wrote in his newsletter that the world trade center bombing in 1993 might have been a CIA plot,” which Ron Paul denies.

More glaringly, Blitzer never asks Gingrich to explain the fact that just this morning, his own campaign denied that Gingrich had written a 2006 newsletter praising Romneycare. Blitzer obviously knew about that newsletter because he asked about it elsewhere in the interview, but he never called Gingrich on the denial.

Then, in a panel discussion following the clip, former Bush speechwriter David Frum and Democratic strategist Jonathan Prince tore into Ron Paul with varying degrees of glee. Frum launched a salvo of whoppers by saying that Paul wouldn’t get the nomination because “the Republican Party is a party of strong national defense. It is an antiracist party. A party of inclusion. It’s a party that does stand for decent social safety net…”

Let’s forget, for a moment, Newt Gingrich’s own history of race-baiting (not an isolated case in Gingrich’s party), or the GOP’s (and Gingrich’s) funny ideas about inclusion, or their attempts to destroy social safety nets like Medicare and Social Security. Throughout this, and Prince’s more focused accusation that Ron Paul “was racist by design,” with “malice and knowledge aforethought,” Blitzer never steps in to say something like, “In fairness to Ron Paul, he denies writing those newsletters, and has been apologizing for them for years.”

You might not expect that kind of refereeing on a more opinion-oriented show like some of MSNBC’s or Fox News’ primetime shows, but given the heft of these attacks, Blitzer seemed remiss. That impression is only magnified by his characterization of Gingrich’s attacks. “It took guts, I think you’ll agree,” Blitzer told his panelists, “for Newt Gingrich to come out as strongly and as adamantly against Ron Paul as he just did.”

I don’t know the truth about the newsletter controversy. Ron Paul has consistently expressed regret over what he says was a mistake, and in the years I’ve been covering him, nothing I’ve seen or heard from him would lead me to believe that the ideas in those newsletters reflect his beliefs. Having said that, part of making up for a regrettable mistake is facing the music for as long as it plays. If people still have questions about it, Paul owes them answers, just as surely as he is owed the chance to give those answers. It is a fair issue to discuss, but it isn’t fair to discuss it without noting Paul’s longstanding defense.

Here’s the clip, from CNN’s The Situation Room:

Gingrich To Wolf Blitzer On A Paul/Obama General Election: ‘A Very Hard Choice’

Frances Martel — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:57:49 +0000

It isn’t any news that Newt Gingrich isn’t a particular fan of his biggest threat in the 2012 race thus far, Rep. Ron Paul. What may be news, however, is that Rep. Paul may overtake President Barack Obama in antipathy Gingrich harbors for him, as he told Wolf Blitzer on CNN today that he could never vote for Rep. Paul, and that, between Rep. Paul and President Obama, he would have a “very hard choice” to make.

Blitzer switched the topic over to Rep. Paul, which gave Gingrich an opening to bring up the newsletters, arguing that he found it impossible that Rep. Paul would have “no idea what he was making money on, had no idea that it was racist, anti-semitic.” “There will come a moment where people won’t take him as a serious person,” he noted, giving him one compliment: that he “happened to have a good cause” in the fight against the Federal Reserve.

Blitzer asked him directly whether he could vote for him, and received a resounding “no.” When Blitzer changed the model to one in which the only choices available would either be Rep. Paul or President Obama. Gingrich paused and replied, “I think you’d have a very hard choice,” detailing his problems with both candidates, and concluding it would be a “very bad choice for America.” So does this mean Gingrich would run a third party campaign against Republican Nominee Paul? Gingrich refused to answer, because “it’s not going to happen.”

The exchange via CNN below:

CNN Report Fails To Convince Wolf Blitzer That Newt Gingrich’s First Divorce Matters

Frances Martel — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:20:50 +0000

As Newt Gingrich continues to gaffe his way to the top (and, subsequently, the bottom) of the 2012 Republican pile, new questions have risen about his first divorce, and who exactly pulled the trigger. After an extensive CNN segment on the ins and outs of the divorce papers, however, Wolf Blitzer appeared, well, unconvinced that any of it mattered, to say the least.

The interview preceding Blitzer’s comments was of Alan Duke, who had been reporting on the divorce for thirty years, and found it bizarre that the Gingrich campaign had claimed that it was his ex-wife who requested the divorce. “The file clearly states that she did not want the judge to grant the divorce,” he argued, judging from the files he uncovered at the courthouse. He quoted the file as stating that the “defendant does not admit marriage is irretrievably broken,” and that she had called the divorce a “complete surprise.”

Blitzer then responded to interviewer Isha Sesay, first about Gingrich’s chances in the Iowa caucuses. He clarified that Iowa’s delegates are not distributed on a winner-take-all basis, and that there are still several big-name endorsements up for grabs there, such as Rep. Steve King and Sen. Chuck Grassley. As for whether the divorce story will matter? “It might matter to some social conservatives,” Blitzer noted, but “I suspect so much of this is well-know… I’m not sure it’s going to have a huge effect on the Iowa caucuses.” So much for that interview with Alan Duke, apparently?

The segment via CNN below:

Rep. Ron Paul Gets Irked By Newsletter Questions, Walks Out Of CNN Interview

James Crugnale — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:47:46 +0000

Ron Paul walked out of an interview with CNN’s Gloria Borger following a heated exchange over the controversy regarding racist newsletters sent in his name during the 1990s. Borger asked the Congressman if he had ever read the newsletters. “Did you ever object when you read them?”

“Why don’t you go back and look at what I said yesterday on CNN and what I’ve said for 20 something years. 22 years ago? I didn’t write them, I disavow them, That’s it.”

“But you made money off them,” Borger contended.

“I was still practicing medicine,” Paul responded. “That’s probably why I wasn’t a very good publisher, I had to make a living.”

“There are reports you made almost a million dollars off of them in 1993.” Borger noted.

“No, I’d like to see that money,” Paul responded. “I never read that stuff. I was probably aware of it ten years after it was written and it’s been going on 20 years that people have pestered me about this and CNN does it every single time. So when are you going to wear yourself out?”

“Is it legitimate? Is it a legitimate question to ask that something went out in your name?” Borger continued.

“And when you get the answer, it’s legitimate you sort of take the answers you get. I didn’t write them. Didn’t read them at the time and I disavow them. That is your answer.”

“It’s legitimate, it’s legitimate. These things are pretty incendiary,” Borger pressed.

“Because of people like you,” Paul riffed.

But Borger continued to barrage Paul with questions, at which point Paul took off his mic and walked out of the interview

“It seems like Ron Paul got tired of talking about it,” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said.

“I did have to ask them. He clearly thinks its irrelevant.” Borger explained to Blitzer. “He thinks it’s been asked and answered…It’s clearly a question he’d rather not be asked.”

Watch Paul walk out of Borger’s interview below via CNN:

Iowa Vet Calls Newt Gingrich A ‘Fcking Ahole’ During Grocery Store Appearance

Colby Hall — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:01:58 +0000

With the Iowa caucus just scant two weeks away, tensions are running high. During a campaign appearance at a grocery store yesterday, on-again, off-again GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich was approached by a seemingly innocuous supporter, who instead turned out to be something of pretty vocal critic. The grinning man got Gingrich’s attention with “You know something?” before following with “you’re a f*cking a**hole.”

It’s safe to say that Gingrich brings out the passionate side of Iowa voters. During a visit to the Hawkeye State back in May, the former House Speaker was similarly approached by an angry Iowa voter, who told Gingrich that he was “an embarrassment to our party.”

In both instances Mr. Gingrich handled the confrontation with aplomb, in the most recent instance responding to his vocal critic with a familiar playground retort of “it’s a free country.” It’s unclear if Gingrich was referring to the man’s right to free speech, or his own right to be a f**king a**hole.

Fortunately for the U.S. viewing public, a camera situated just behind Gingrich’s sizable cranium captured the entire exchange, which CNN promptly broadcast on The Situation Room yesterday in a report filed by Jim Acosta that focused on Gingrich’s recent challenges in Iowa. In the event that any viewers missed the opening clip, Wolf Blitzer went back to Acosta, asking him to repeat what the angry vet had said. Watching Acosta stumble with an appropriate explanation is almost as entertaining as the source material.

Watch the clip below, courtesy of CNN:

(H/T TPM)

Sen. John McCain: Payroll Tax Standoff Is ‘Harming the Republican Party’

James Crugnale — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:41:25 +0000

Arizona Senator John McCain appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer Tuesday and lamented the political impasse over the payroll tax extension. “We have to recognize reality, and that is we are not going to see the payroll tax cut expire on the first of January, and we have to accommodate to that reality,” McCain observed.

“It would not be fair to the American people at this time and so, it seems to me that Republican leaders and Harry Reid and the Speaker and Congresswoman Pelosi should sit down together with the administration and figure out a way through this. It is harming the Republican Party,” McCain said solemnly. “It is harming the view if it’s possible anymore, of the American people about Congress and we’ve got to get this thing resolved and with the realization that the payroll tax cut must remain in effect.”

Watch McCain’s blunt statements about the payroll tax cut below via CNN:

(h/t Gwen Ifill)

Piers Morgan Inexplicably Accepts A Second Interview With Kathy Griffin, Hilarity Ensues

Frances Martel — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:18:40 +0000

Kathy Griffin was one of the more unpredictable guests to swing by Piers Morgan Tonight when she did so last August. Despite the obvious risks, Piers Morgan invited her back, however, and received something of a grab-bag of thoughts from the comedienne that ranged from how sexy Henry Kissinger‘s voice is to what her plans are to further embarrass Anderson Cooper this New Year’s Eve.

Joking that she had “never had Henry Kissinger open for me before,” Griffin returned to the program with gusto, and Morgan happy to indulge her by asking inopportune questions about whether Kissinger was a sex symbol and what she was planning for her fifth New Year’s Eve special with Cooper. “I really live for that night,” she admitted, and gave away that her plan “is to make the screen turn into a bar code.” While she had made previous threats to disrobe on this year’s program, today she teased a second assault strategy on CNN: “I’m going to drunk dial Wolf Blitzer.”

The conversation then turned to Griffin’s life as it was going now: mall appearances she was proud to make (“I have an alcoholic mother and those boxes of wine don’t buy themselves!”) and her love life– which Morgan ambushed her with somewhat, showing a photo of her boyfriend and simply asking “are you having sex with this man?” after nagging about the man’s age for several minutes.

RELATED: Kathy Griffin’s Goal Is To Get Anderson Cooper Fired This New Year’s Eve By Exposing Herself On CNN

She may be a risky guest, but it’s not hard to see why she continues to be a favorite around CNN, during the cheeriest time of year.

The first segment of the Griffin/Morgan interview via CNN below:

Conservative Columnist Rich Galen Accuses CNN Of Waging War On Republicans

Alex Alvarez — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:04:51 +0000

On Monday afternoon, conservative columnist Rich Galen appeared on CNN host Wolf Blitzer‘s program to discuss, among other things, the “War on Christmas.” And we learned that Galen is not one to beat around the ~~bush~~ Christmas tree.

Blitzer kicked things off by playing a clip from sister network TNT’s “Christmas in Washington” special. During the holiday program, President Barack Obama — who, for some, isn’t as committed to Christianity or the spirit of Christmas as they would like — shared that “the story of Jesus Christ changed the world, for me and for millions of Americans.”

“If there’s a war on religion from this President, or a war on Christmas,” Wolf weighed in, it certainly wasn’t evident that night.

“It was beautiful,” Galen agreed, “but, just… Please. CNN just couldn’t be more, you know, on one side of this thing.”

“I’m not defending Rick Perry,” he added. “Let’s see what Rick Perry had to say… Oh, you don’t have it. I see.”

“CNN,” he later insisted, “has a war on this issue.”

“Well you’re here, right?” Blizter responded. “Do we have a war on you?”

Have a look, via CNN:

h/t NewsBusters

Donald Trump: ‘Very Surprised’ That Mitt Romney Turned Down Debate Invitation

James Crugnale — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:19:14 +0000

In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room Thursday, Donald Trump was flummoxed that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney turned down attending his debate. “I was surprised because as you know, he wants my endorsement very, very badly. He was very nice, he called me but I was surprised. If I was losing in the polls, I wouldn’t be saying no to anybody.”

“I was particularly surprised with Mitt Romney because he wants my endorsement very badly,” Trump added. “As you know, I like him a lot. I think he’s a terrific guy, but I was really surprised that he didn’t want to do the debate and i’ll tell you, I was very impressed with Newt, who’s leading in the polls, immediately said I want to do that debate. That sounds great.”

Watch Trump’s bewilderment over Romney refusing to attend his debate below via CNN:

Wolf Blitzer Exclaims ‘Homeless Shelters, Get Ready!’ Following Report On Paltry Worker Savings

James Crugnale — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:15:35 +0000

Following a Jack Cafferty report that claimed more than half of US workers had less than $25,000 in their savings accounts, The Situation Room‘s Wolf Blitzer curiously exclaimed, “Homeless shelters, get ready!”

Cafferty had noted the survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that “nearly 30% of workers are ‘not at all’ confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement. That’s a record high. Researchers point out that many people don’t even know how much they need to save for retirement.”

“Sadly, there aren’t many options as you near retirement age and don’t have money sput away,” Cafferty continued. “You can either work longer – which millions of Americans are planning to do – you can save more quickly or get a higher return on your investments. Or cut your costs. And these are called ‘the golden years.’”

The pessimistic report triggered Blitzer to make his remark urging homeless shelters to get prepared.

Watch Blitzer’s response below via CNN:

Know Your Friends: Rick Perry Calls Influential Conservative Hot Air Blog ‘Hot Gas’ On CNN

Tommy Christopher — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:12:13 +0000

It turns out that Texas Gov. Rick Perry doesn’t just have trouble remembering lists of three. In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Wednesday afternoon, the forgetful former frontrunner had trouble remembering just one conservative website, the Michelle Malkin-founded, Ed Morrissey-run Hot Air. Discussing a possible path to victory in Iowa, Perry told Blitzer he had seen a poll “off the internet. I think ‘Hot Gas’ was the site.”

For those of you completely unfamiliar with the world of conservative blogs, this would be the equivalent of a Democratic candidate blanking on the name of a site like Media Matters, or MoveOn.org. For those who don’t know anything about blogs…well, go ahead and vote for Perry, I guess. He was referring to a Hot Air reader poll, which, I’m guessing, he won’t do nearly as well in next time they do one.

Perry also made a rather offhand, extremely off-color reference, telling Blitzer that it’s “Newt’s time in the barrel.”

Considering that phrase’s NSFW origin, it’s an odd choice for a guy who’s loudly opposing gay everything these days.

The Texas Governor has been turning up the heat the past few days with an intense culture-war attack on President Obama, but if he’s trying to woo conservative voters, he ought to try and learn what they’re reading. Now, excuse me while I go check out RougeCounty.com.