“Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace called out the White House on his show today, for not offering Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as guests. The Secretaries appeared on the “big three” Sunday public affairs shows in NBC’s “Meet the Press,” ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
They did not appear on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Here is what Wallace said (via Mediaite):
“Of course wе wanted tο gеt thе White House view οn Libya, however thеу сhοѕе tο offer Secretary of State Clinton аnԁ Defense Secretary Gates tο ABC, CBS аnԁ NBC, but nοt tο Fox. Despite the fact that we routinely have more viewers than two of those Sunday shows, the Obama team felt no need to explain to the millions of you who watch this program and Fox News why they have sent U.S. servicemen and women into combat. We thought you’d like to know.”
It is true that when the two cable replays on Fox News are taken into consideration, “FNS” draws more viewers than “Face the Nation” or “This Week,” though it isn’t an apples to apples comparison, as those shows do not have any cable replays to add to their total. Without the cable replays, “FNS” places fourth among the broadcast network Sunday shows.
It is unclear why the White House decided not to offer them up to “FNS,” seeing as it is a broadcast program first and foremost, not a cable one. We may hear more about it this week.