Sarkozy Walks Out Of 60 Minutes Interview: "If I Had Something To Say About [My Wife] I Would Not Do So Here"

Watch French President Sarkozy walk out of a 60 Minutes interview he called "stupid" and a "big mistake."

Read more about the interview below and on Huff Wires:

France's president abruptly ended a "60 Minutes" interview aimed at introducing him to U.S. audiences, dubbing it "stupid" and a "big mistake" and refusing to answer questions about his wife.

Before the CBS news show interview in Paris even began, Sarkozy called his press secretary "an imbecile" for arranging the session on a busy day.

Comments

[Dejack]

Kudos to Sarkozy!

Let more pols handle the press in precisely the same way and we may see a return to REAL news gathering and interviewing!

[nikto]

Dubya was boinking Condi (until late last year), but don't ask about it.

Dubya starting drinking again (back in '04),
but don't ask about it.

Sarkozy's divorce?
Ask about it immediately!

War with Iran?
Don't ask. Don't think.

Makes sense to me.

NOT.

[EFC]

Kudos to French President Sarkozy for walking out of Leslie Stahl’s inane interview-more interviewees should try it. Sarkozy apparently doesn’t understand that the fundamental mission of U.S. corporate media is to provide the public with irrelevant pabulum while at the same time dodging many important stories for fear of upsetting the ruling corporatists and their lackeys in Washington. Remember CBS is the “liberal” network who, through their dithering and incompetence, gave G. W. Bush (the “War President”) a free pass on the subject of his military non-service--a glaring but mostly ignored story during the 2004 Presidential campaign (thanks, for the most part, to CBS news).

[factanonverba]

Sarkozy is an accident waiting to happen.

[akhinaten]

He should have said: This is not, provincial America, unable to differentiate between a politicians private life and his public life (with Rudy getting calls from his wife in the middle of his speeches) this is France and in France and generally in old-Europe the private life of the politicians are just that, private.

[madprophet]

Imagine the scenario: Clinton is asked if he had sex with Lewinsky.

His reply: "None of your business, nor the business of the American people. I will not respond, EVER, to any questions about my private life."

We would be living in a different world.

[TheRagingModerate]

I wholeheartedly applaud Sarkozy for walking out, but would add this: Come back! You didn't end the interview right. Before walking out, you should have taken the opportunity to dress down the American MSM for its crass, juvenile and counter-productive fixation on policitians' personal lives.

The whole world knows that the US is in dire need of a wake-up call -- that our electorate needs to start focusing on substantive issues and taking politics seriously again. Sarkozy could have used this moment to point out to the American media how they have a responsibility to lead by example and to keep the focus on the issues. I would have enjoyed seeing him make Leslie Stahl cry -- or at least cause her to turn red with embarassment -- by berating her for acting more like a reporter for People Magazine than a serious journalist. (And, for the record, I generally like Leslie Stahl and 60 Minutes -- but she was out of line. Surely she could have come up with more important questions to ask this world leader during her limited time with him!)

[ChezMJ]

For the record, I DON'T like Leslie Stahl. When has she EVER done a good interview???

[wars4profit]

If they only had time to ask him one question, they should have asked why he wants to destroy Iran.

[Dvmx]

A sorry bunch of comments in general. Sarkozy did not appear for 60 Minutes audience as a beleaguered husband, but rather as a head of state.
CBS should get it's head out of it's you know what.
Couric's interview with Plame was aweful, though Plame kept her dignity, Couric doesn't know what the word means.
Then there was the hostile ambush of Ahmedinejad, after all, a head of state too.
CBS is drifting away from being a news organization... where exactly are they headed...?

[Witchitalineman]

I agree.

[meljomur]

Wow,
Welcome to our media world President Sarkosy. Didn't you get the memo that we don't give a c*** about your political views and positions, all we care about is your personal life.

[FirstShirt]

Good for him for walking out. It was a stupid question.

[Wanjiru]

...this woman was waaaayyyy out of line, what was she going to follow up with, amount and dates of his child support payments?.­..visitati­on schedule?...

...just absolutely ridiculous...I'm glad he walked out...just goes to show the world how low American MSM has sunk, and continues to sink....


.


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[Pdubya]

he should have said "she's great, why...you wanna f*ck?"

good for him for walking out.

[VivaZapata]

For someone anxious to embrace America, he sure is slow to understand what we in the United States consider important qualities in a leader.

[cartach]

Are you joking? Are you saying that Bush is the example? What do you consider important qualities in a leader? If anything Americans have proven over and over that the standards they set for their leader are about as low as you can get.

[Witchitalineman]

I hope you are bein sarcastic.

[Imzadi]

Good for him! She was conducting a terrible interview.

[darker]

Sarkozy found out first-hand how very stupid and shallow the US Media really is. Their idea of "news" or interview is to create SENSATIONALISM for rubbernecking purposes. Their "news"? NOT.

[InofTouch]

funny how website among other blogs like this don't have a problem with asking question about the spouse and candidates personal lives like Rudy and Hillary but ask about sarkozy and that bad.

I think there a double standerd around here and sorry but when you serve the public...the public has the right to know cause after all we seem to make a big deal around here about Larry Craig personals

calling the kennel black

[DocManhattan]

How many times do people need this spelled out?

Craig committed a misdemeanour and exposed himself as a hypocrite and a liar for his anti-gay political stance. That is directly relevant to his job.

Sarkozy is going through a - probably quite painful - divorce that is entirely unrelated to his ability to do his job.

When you interview a politician, you're supposed to ask them about things that are relevant to their job. Does that finally make it any clearer?

[JimR]

So if Hillary Clinton and Bill separated, nobody would ask any questions about that?

[cartach]

Not Larry Craig personals,but Larry Craig perversions.