Reminiscent of when he was at his best against her over McCain's choice of Palin during the election. Ari Fleischer tries to shield her from Carville by offering his own opinion and using the common RepubliCON false equivocation "the left are just as bad" meme/deflection tactic but he's not an elected official and who gives a shit about what he thinks anyway. This was about trying to get a straight answer to a simple question from Bachmann that she blatantly refused to do in fear of upsetting her lunatic followers.
---- --- ----
KING: Senator Graham, we referred to him a little while ago. He's also been blunt on the subject of so-called birthers, those who question the legitimacy of the Obama presidency.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY "THE ATLANTIC")
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The people who are doing unfair and unkind things to the president, it says more about them than it does the Republican Party.
But here's what the Republican Party has to do. Now this is, I think, a good point. We have to say, that's crazy. So I'm here to tell you that those who think the president was born somewhere other than Hawaii are crazy. He's not a Muslim. He's a good man. And let's knock this crap off and talk about the real differences we have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Congresswoman Bachmann, would you agree with what Senator Graham just said? BACHMANN: You know, it's so interesting, this whole birther issue hasn't even been one that's ever been brought up to me by my constituents. They continue to ask me, Larry, where are the jobs?
That's what they want to know, where are the jobs?
KING: All right. But we -- the question was, therefore, do you agree with what Senator Graham just said?
BACHMANN: That's a non-issue. In my district, it's a flat out non-issue.
FLEISCHER: Larry, I...
KING: All right. We'll be right back with more -- don't go away -- on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE.
We'll get Carville's comments.
Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: James, were you going to comment on some of this falderal?
CARVILLE: I would love to comment on (INAUDIBLE), where you left off.
FLEISCHER: So would I.
(CROSSTALK)
FLEISCHER: Go ahead, James. You go first.
CARVILLE: Well, first of all, there are seven Republicans in the House that have birther legislation before there. And one of the things that people don't like is that politicians get a simple yes or no question and they try to evade it, just like I heard Cong -- the Congresswoman do. She's known to be very outspoken...
BACHMANN: Oh, not at all. I answered.
CARVILLE: I can't believe that she doesn't have the courage just to give us a simple yes or no answer -- do you believe that these birthers are plum crazy, because that's what Senator Graham was saying?
And it's a simple question -- do you believe that they're crazy or not?
KING: But that was the only question...
FLEISCHER: Let me -- let me jump in.
KING: (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Do you think they're nuts?
All right, go ahead, Ari.
Go ahead.
FLEISCHER: I -- I think this movement is nutty. I think this is nutty. I think there's no evidence and people shouldn't waste any time on it.
But I want to point out something that is a terrible hypocrisy about all of this. When George Bush was elected, there were many people who called him illegitimate and said that he lost Florida despite there being no evidence of that being the case.
CARVILLE: I was one.
FLEISCHER: But nobody...
CARVILLE: I was one.
FLEISCHER: But hold on a second. Hold on, James.
CARVILLE: Yes. OK. I was one of them.
FLEISCHER: Hold on. Nobody blew the whistle and started to say, well, wait a minute, aren't these people on the left nutty?
It always seemed that people said George Bush was a divider, not a uniter and they didn't talk about the tactics of the left being the problem.
Now, when people on the right are making claims that are not supported, it's as if all the media referees now can't wait to blow their whistle and throw their flags and say the problem is on the right.
That's hypocritical. And if you ask me, there's -- there's a loony factor in both parties. And I'd say for everyone who's a little lulu on the left, there's -- I mean on the right -- every one who's a little lulu on the right, there's about 1.8 who's lulu on the left.
CARVILLE: Well, I was one.
KING: Mr. Carville, you look excited.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: The Supreme Court stopped it -- it stopped the count that -- that Al Gore was going to win. But that's OK. I can't believe that Congressman Bachmann...
FLEISCHER: That's -- no, that's not the point.
CARVILLE: -- couldn't answer a yes or no question. BACHMANN: I answered the question.
CARVILLE: You see -- are they crazy or not?
BACHMANN: And I answered it very clearly.
CARVILLE: No, you didn't.
BACHMANN: What I -- what I said...
CARVILLE: Are they nutty or not?
BACHMANN: The people in my district want to know where are the jobs?
That's what I hear over and over...
CARVILLE: Again -- again, let me ask you...
BACHMANN: ...meeting after meeting...
KING: I understand that...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Hold it, hold it, hold it.
BACHMANN: No one is bringing this issue up and...
KING: Congresswoman, I am -- Congresswoman, the only thing was the question was simple -- do you believe the birthers?
Forget the district, forget the jobs for a moment.
Do you believe President Obama was born in the United States?
BACHMANN: I have no reason to doubt that he wasn't born in the United States. I have none. The only place that this issue comes up is on the left. You don't hear people on the right bringing this issue up. Honest...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Then where did it start?
BACHMANN: In Minnesota, the only thing people are interested in are where are the jobs?
KING: Do you think the left started it?
BACHMANN: I don't know. I have no idea.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: OK. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let -- let's -- KING: Hill?
HARPER: OK.
BACHMANN: It's a non-issue. The jobs are the issue.
HARPER: Let's hold on something that...
KING: All right. So, therefore, you don't believe it, right?
BACHMANN: I don't believe that -- you mean where President Obama was born?
KING: That he was born somewhere else.
BACHMANN: The president has shown his birth certificate...
KING: You don't -- you don't believe he was born.
BACHMANN: The president has shown his birth certificate.
KING: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
BACHMANN: The real issue is jobs.
HARPER: I want to pick up something.
KING: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
HARPER: I want to pick up something.
(CROSSTALK)
HARPER: Basically that Ari was saying and do there. My mother was from South Carolina. I spent every summer there growing up with my grandparents. Let's celebrate Senator Graham for standing up for -- within his party and saying let's actually talk about the issues. I think that's what we should be talking about. Let's talk about issues. Let's talk about progress. Let's talk about best results.
KING: Now, OK. The Congresswoman's brought up jobs. She has a good point, does she not, James?
CARVILLE: Of course she has.
KING: The job -- the unemployment rate has gone up.
CARVILLE: Well, of course, she has a point and -- and when that administration left, there were 632,000 jobs a month they were losing. We were down to 250,000, 300,000. The unemployment rate is up because people are back looking for jobs again, because they're seeing that there's at least some -- some signs of some life somewhere in this economy.
But certainly it's not good enough. But I think that we -- if we keep pressing on again, I think, in a year or so, I think before this is over, we'll start to show something.
But, yes, absolutely. But, you know, we're asking young men to -- to go to Afghanistan and face the Taliban. When you see a Congressman get a simple question that they're asked and they can't stand up and answer the question, I...
BACHMANN: I absolutely answered the question.
CARVILLE: No, you didn't.
Are these people nutty?
BACHMANN: Yes, I absolutely did.
I absolutely answered the question.
CARVILLE: Are they nutty or not?
FLEISCHER: Larry...
BACHMANN: I told you exactly what happens in my district.
CARVILLE: See, that's what -- that's the problem here.
BACHMANN: And in my dictating, people want to know where the jobs are?
They're not interested in this fringe issue.
FLEISCHER: Larry -- Barack Obama was...
(CROSSTALK)
FLEISCHER: Larry, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, but now all our children are born in debt. And that's the problem...
BACHMANN: That's the problem.
FLEISCHER: ...in the country with the policies (INAUDIBLE)...
BACHMANN: That's the problem.
FLEISCHER: ...today. James talked about unemployment. When they passed the first stimulus spending bill, they promised us, the administration did, that the unemployment rate would not exceed 8.0 percent if that was passed. Today, it's 9.8 percent. It hasn't worked. We're economically going backwards. We have a $1.2 trillion deficit and we're mortgaging our children's future.
This, I think, is the political problem on the domestic end. It's also led to the fact that so many Independents and senior citizens who used to be for Barack Obama and the Democrats have really had a change of heart since January 20th. I think that's the fundamental domestic issue that's driving politics today.
KING: All right. We'll -- I want to spend a little more time on this.
So while we'll talk about David Letterman ahead, some more politics, when we come back.
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