Fox's Megyn Kelly Works Over McCain Flack
A fortnight ago, we noted of the way CNN's Campbell Brown stumped McCain spokesperson Tucker "Anchorman" Bounds with a bunch of questions to which he could provide no straight answer. But that was before the "Hey! Has Anyone Noticed That McCain Lies All The Time" Media Backlash of 2008. Now, Bounds cannot even obtain safe quarter at Fox News.
This morning, Megyn Kelly roadblocked several of Bounds' attempts at glib explanations, ordering Bounds to "stay on point," relating that "every independent analyst who took a look at" McCain's contention that Obama would be raising taxes on the middle class noted that "that's not true," suggesting that McCain "level with the American people," and even providing pushback on the McCain camp's misleading contentions on an age-appropriate sex-education bill that Obama voted for in the Illinois State Senate.
"I looked at the language of the bill," Kelly stated, "Age appropriate sex education about child predators and inappropriate touching. What is wrong with that?" Well, what's wrong with that, of course, is that Obama opted against those precious town hall meetings that McCain wanted, so now children aren't allowed to be protected from pedophiles, I guess.
[WATCH]
RELATED:
McCain Loses Fox News: Megyn Kelly Rips McCain Flack For Claiming Obama Would Raise Middle Class Taxes [ThinkProgress]
TRANSCRIPT:
KELLY: I want to hold you accountable for what McCain is doing, and get you to weigh in on this. Has your candidate gone too far, has he stretched the truth with the voters?
BOUNDS: Well, Megyn, what we have done is gone to great lengths to discuss Barack Obama's record. And I think what you're seeing in this ad today is that he would rather hurl insults than examine his record. I mean, it is true that during a struggling economy, he proposes raising taxes.Story continues below
advertisementKELLY: Not on the middle class.
BOUNDS: Well...ulp...on job growth and small businesses that drive the job growth of this country.
KELLY: But you guys have suggested he's going to raise taxes on the middle class and virtually every independent analyst who took a look at that claim said that's not true. He'll raise it on people making $200,000 or $250,000, but not the middle class.
BOUNDS: Well, Megyn, you're giving him an enormous amount of credit for a guy who has voted only to raise taxes in the United States Senate. For now...for him to make a new claim...for him...now, keep in mind --
KELLY: No, no! Let's stay on point, I'm not giving him any credit. I'm saying what the independent analysts say. They say that claim is false. And if that's false, why would John McCain do that, Tucker? Why wouldn't he just level with the voters and say, look, he's going to raise taxes on the wealthy or whatever you consider somebody to be making over $250,000, it's going to have a trickle down effect. That may not be good for the middle class. But why say he's going to raise taxes on the middle class when he's not?
BOUNDS: Because his record says that he will. If we take ever his word on everything he says he will do, the oceans will part, the sick will become healed. They're all sorts of things that Barack Obama is claiming on this campaign. But when you look is at his record, he has voted to increase taxes, he has voted in support of higher taxes for people making as little as $42,000 a year. I think you and I can both agree that those people are entrenched in the middle-class of this country.
KELLY: Tucker, why did he claim--
BOUNDS: 94 times in three years he is voted in support of higher taxes. Why are we to take him on his word that he would cut any tax? He has no record of doing it.
KELLY: Why did John McCain suggests in an ad that Barack Obama supported, comprehensive sex-ed for kindergartners?
BOUNDS: You'll notice that the Obama campaign has never refuted that. They voted for that in Barack Obama's committee. His committee that he chaired voted to pass that legislation. If you examine the language in the bill--
KELLY: I looked at the language in the bill.
BOUNDS: I know you will have an Obama person on later, I hope that you will ask them if there was language in the bill that actually talked about sex education for kindergartners.
KELLY: The language in the bill talks about age appropriate sex ed, including education about child predators and inappropriate touching. What is wrong with that?
BOUNDS: And sexually transmitted diseases.
KELLY: Right. Why wouldn't you want a kindergartner to be educated somewhat about inappropriate touching from adults?
BOUNDS: About sexually transmitted diseases?
KELLY: No! No! [crosstalk] His campaign says that's not fair, what he was backing was trying to educate little kindergartners on how to avoid sexual predators' and that you are distorting the language of the bill. Your response.
BOUNDS: We did not distort the language of the bill. We told voters that he voted in favor of this education. That is a reform that is on his record. If we cannot talk about the votes that he's actually taken, if we can't talk about the fact that he is supporting higher taxes or has proposed more taxes in a down economy when americans are struggling, what can we talk about? It is an important debate. Let's talk about the facts. No more of the dishonest, sleazy accusations. What he is trying to do is divert attention away from the fact that he is no proven record of making reforms. When voters go to the ballot in November, they will vote for someone who has a record of reform and bipartisanship. That is John McCain, not Barack Obama.
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First Posted: 09-15-08 10:17 AM | Updated: 10-16-08 05:12 AM