CNN's Fareed Zakaria said on Thursday that he has been having regular discussions with President Obama about national security and foreign policy. He then posted a "clarification" of his statement on Saturday.Asked by Eliot Spitzer on Thursday's "In The Arena" if Obama has been calling him up lately, Zakaria said, "mostly it's been face-to-face meetings...usually organized by Tom Donilon, the national security adviser."
He said Obama was spending a lot of time "thinking about the issues of the Arab Spring," and added, "it's been a very thoughtful conversation. You know, we'll see where it goes."
Zakaria's admission attracted fast criticism from his frequent antagonist, Glenn Beck, who said that Zakaria could not possibly be a neutral arbiter of the Obama administration's policies while he was advising Obama.
The characterization that I have been "advising" President Obama is inaccurate. Over the last few months I've had a couple of conversations with the president, off-the-record. At no point did president President Obama ask me for advice on a specific policy or speech or proposal, nor did I volunteer it. I know that he has had similar meetings with other columnists.
No comments:
Post a Comment