Obama White House Defends Itself Against James Carville's Oil Spill Criticism

The White House defended itself against James Carville's scathing criticism of the federal response to the BP oil spill Friday.

During an Air Force One flight after the President's visit to Louisiana, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Carville, a Democratic strategist, didn't have his facts straight. A pool report included a transcript of Gibbs' remarks:

Reporter: What does the President have to say about the fact that some of his staunchest supporters like James Carville have essentially turned on him, have some strong things to say about the way he's been handling the oil spill?

Gibbs: Truthfully, I think the President answered this yesterday. I think people -- I don't think James understands all of what we're doing. I don't think James understood the facts.

On Thursday, Carville continued to criticize the federal response and told Campbell Brown that he believes President Obama's advisers aren't relaying to the President the gravity of the disaster.

"I know I'm not a Harvard law... guy, professor of law at the University of Chicago," Carville said. "People down here know what they're seeing. It seems the President is madder at his critics than he is at BP."

Carville wanted to know why the Minerals Management Service, the agency in charge of doling out offshore leases and regulating the industry, was not better managed before the spill.

Carville: "I really do take real issue here and I'd like to know from the Secretary of the Interior (Ken Salazar) what was going on, because we knew this was a corrupt thing," said Carville. Referring to an Inspector General's report suggesting a corrupt relationship between MMS employees and the oil industry, Carville described the findings as "One of the most devastating things ever. Why this place wasn't fumigated, cleaned out? I don't know."

On Thursday, MMS Director Elizabeth Birnbaum was forced to step down and scientists concluded that the spill was the worst in U.S. history.

Because of the disaster, the Obama administration has announced plans to separate the regulatory and business roles of the MMS.

Comments

[Mr Palsgraf]

11:03 AM on 06/13/2010

Where is the HP article that exposed Carville as a hypocrite that is feigning outrage in an attempt to land the 9pm CNN slot? The article showed that Carville said he was too busy to meet with BP execs or someone in an exec position dealing with the spill because he was "too busy." SO he acts outraged on the air but is too busy to meet with people off the air? Where is this article? Anyone?

[Goldengrl]

02:38 PM on 06/01/2010

Tsk, tsk, everyone wants to tell the Black President what to do. Everyone else has a better idea of what could have and should have been done. So paternalistic and reeks of racism. If there was a remedy for this disaster I think it would have been used by now. This disaster was in the making long before Obama ever took office. After eight years of Bush, there's no telling what other disaster lurks around the corner with all the deregulations and lack of oversight that took place under his watch.

[missouriwatcher]

06:03 PM on 06/02/2010

So true. . .sadly, so true.

[merger]

02:33 PM on 06/01/2010

Carville is right on this one. I was just in New Orleans. The people there are scared and angry as he!!. They feel like they are just recovering from Katrina and this could set them back decades. I spoke to a man fro Maryland in one of the tourists shops who is a fisherman in Maryland. He says that many of the fish off Maryland actually breed in the Gulf marshes and migrate up the East coast. He is worried also about his state's fushing industry as a result.

[Golfer59]

04:45 PM on 06/01/2010

Carville and his wife both knew the risk of the oil rigs and their lack of safety. His wife worked for Dick Cheney. She knew this could happen when they gave all the deals to big oil in Cheney's secret energy meeting. Carville is DEAD WRONG!!!

[merger]

01:28 AM on 06/04/2010

Dead wrong now or then. I am talking currently of the devastation of the Gulf. He is not his wife. he is a native Louisianian, and she definitely is not. They do not agree with one another politically. He worked for the Clintons and is a die hard liberal. She is a die hard conservative.

[merger]

01:31 AM on 06/04/2010

Carville can not stand Cheney btw and is a huge critic of the man. Also, Carville is not an elected official and has not been. He has no real authority and has had none in Louisiana politics. He does not set policy for drilling rights.

[sparky73]

02:25 PM on 06/01/2010

Carville is much smarter than Gibbs. I will take his word over a press secretary ANY DAY.

[sean62965]

04:49 PM on 06/01/2010

Gibbs has been extremely ineffective in conveying any information on this mess. I listen to his press conferences on POTUS. It is very frustrating to listen to him try and side step. To speak without saying much.
On Carville, he should really seek more information before going on his rants. The feds don't have a spill response dept, nor do they have the equipment. They can only sit on BP and be certain all that can be done is being done.
Do we need more beuocrats (sp) and layers of government, or people who know how to deal with this type of problem?
The newest BOP was fought and denied by the GOP and the oil industry not too long ago. It would have cost $500,000.00 per well. Mere pennies compared to the cost to date.

[Petey131]

02:14 PM on 06/01/2010

Carville is just another bitter Hillary loser. Plus, what can you expect from someone who is in bed with a republican (literally). I lost all respect for this man years ago.

[nomadrdw]

01:58 PM on 06/01/2010

how can anyone know how to react when in fact we DON'T know the facts at all, because BP will not allow ANY independent scientist to see and examining the actual evidence. BP has lied from the very beginning about the amount of oil and gas being ejected and won't give any other facts at all about the disaster. Gibbs is starting to get on my nerves as much as Rice did

[esalter]

01:53 PM on 06/01/2010

The president is trying to please yet another of his political contributors. Hopefully at some point BP will allow him to lead. I just hope when his big chance comes he'll do something more than form a commission. Gawd I hate those.

[sean62965]

04:37 PM on 06/01/2010

BP gave twice as much to McCain/Palin as they did Obama. Like Wall St., they play both sides and give large chunks to hedge their bets.

[dantanna]

01:35 PM on 06/01/2010

no one has been put to jail over the financial crisis and no one will be held accountable on this crisis either. so; no matter a republican or democrat president; corporate america and the powerful of this country will continue to manipulate them

[txrunner]

01:21 PM on 06/01/2010

The President held a press conference and stated that his administration is in total control of this situation.

The President said it - so continuing to ignore this is total control.
Scream Carville - this is a horrible mess that is destroying the Gulf - and no one in the White House cares!

[sean62965]

04:40 PM on 06/01/2010

There is no federal oil spill dept. There is no spill clean up equipment. The private companies that do the drilling state they have the proper training and equipment to handle the worst case discharge in their spill response manual, approves by the USCG.
BP takes full responsibility the second they engage in drilling. You can go back and see who voted against mandating the use of the $500,000.00 blow out preventer mandated by other countries. I can bet they ALL wish they hadn't done that now. Including BP.

[LibertarianJon]

11:57 AM on 06/01/2010

Does anyone else think that Carville looks like a scary face carved into a cantelope melon??

[Petey131]

02:15 PM on 06/01/2010

He is married to a republican.

[Golfer59]

04:49 PM on 06/01/2010

He's married to "Cruelle Deville"!!!

[lvogt]

11:51 AM on 06/01/2010

The primary problem for Obama is that he hasn't effectively managed his PR. That isn't unimportant but it is secondary. I would like to see him or a spokesperson lay out a detailed chronology of what they have done. I believe people will have a better view of the government's response. As it is, if it's not on TV it didn't happen.

[LeFlaneur]

01:06 PM on 06/01/2010

You got that exactly right. A PR blunder. But I think if he lays out a chronology of what they have done it will only get spun as excuses. He just needs to move forward and lead and try to avoid leaving openings to Fox and the GOP spin machine in the future.

[jwoww]

01:33 PM on 06/01/2010

agreed what the WH has done or in this case not done in the past is meaningless at this point to the people and eco system in the gulf. do whatever is necessary and give the local officials full right to take whatever they see fit that will protect their shorelines.

[lvogt]

04:48 PM on 06/01/2010

I tend to agree except that it may be important for the mid-terms. The Dems may disappoint but the GOP has gone crazy.

[okiedemocrat]

09:50 AM on 06/01/2010

In some ways I side with Carville. Obama needed to react in a strong and caring way very early on in this process, and he should have been on the Gulf multiple times by now. He seems removed from the seriousness of it, even though I am sure he is not. Preaching from D.C. does not make for a good connection with most Americans. He's been to Wall Street several times to bully the brokers, why not bully BP on the shores of the Gulf?. Salazar and Napolitano lack credentials and are poor communicators. Both seem uncomfortable in their roles. Who's the White House voice on this? The silver lining on this, if there is one, is that people really do have to make choices when it comes to the environment. Louisianans, do you want a healthy fishing industry and recreational waters or do you want fuel and those high paying jobs? They seem to want both.

[WillRoberts]

02:35 AM on 06/01/2010

Things must be really bad when insiders are turning you.

[Petey131]

02:15 PM on 06/01/2010

Carville is bitter.

[biabouman41]

11:55 PM on 05/31/2010

The people of the Gulf supported drill baby drill, now they are demanding that the Federal Government bail them out. They need to pull themselves up by their own bootstaps and stop begging for a handout.

[emrogers]

09:38 AM on 06/01/2010

They're socialists.

[lvogt]

11:52 AM on 06/01/2010

No one wants big government... until they do. Then they demand it.

[dcjdjay]

11:17 PM on 05/31/2010

I guess when you lie in bed night after night with infamous succubus Mary Matalin, something's gotta eventually give.

[Petey131]

02:16 PM on 06/01/2010

and its not Mary giving.....