Gibbs Versus CNBC, Round 2
Robert Gibbs again took issue with the commentary of a CNBC personality, today suggesting that Jim Cramer's claim that President Obama is pursuing a "radical agenda" is unfounded.
"I'm not entirely sure what he's pointing to to make some of the statements," Gibbs said at his daily press briefing. "You can go back and look at any number of statements he's made in the past about the economy and wonder where some of the back-up for those are too."
On "Mad Money" last night, Cramer said Obama's agenda "is destroying the life savings of millions of Americans." "I just want some sign that Obama realizes the market is totally falling apart. And that his agenda has a big hand in that happening," he said. On the "Today" show this morning, he went on to say Obama's budget "basically put a level of fear in this country that I have not seen ever in my life," and represents "the greatest wealth destruction I've seen by a president."
"Some people are on TV every day to comment on the tracking poll," Gibbs said, picking up on an analogy from his boss. "There are other people that were elected to try to fix the problem." He added that the cable hosts are tailoring their message "to a very small audience," while President Obama "has to look out for the broader economy and the broader population."
The question about Cramer's comments came from NBC's Tom Costello (here's betting this exchange ends up on "Nightly News" tonight). The latest flare-up comes 11 days after Gibbs slammed CNBC's Rick Santelli for comments about Obama's housing plan.
Gibbs' response was markedly tamer today, though. "There are very few days that I've had more fun," Gibbs said of the Santelli response. "I was afraid I was going to have too much more fun."



