Obama Takes A Swipe At CBS' Chip Reid
I'm not saying I didn't deserve it, but it did take me by surprise. I think I even blushed.
A little context. At a town meeting in a high school gymnasium in Albuquerque the president was talking about the need to cut the deficit, and said he wanted to say something about the media. I knew exactly where he was going. It's been pretty clear that when reporters question the seriousness of his budget cutting efforts, it gets under his skin. Robert Gibbs gets a bit testy on the topic too.
They weren't happy a few weeks ago when the media (including me) were openly skeptical about his order for Cabinet heads to trim $100 million from their administrative budgets, which I noted in a CBS Evening News piece was comparable to family with a budget of 75,000 dollars trimming about $1.50.
And when the administration went through the budget with a fine tooth comb and found $17 billion in cuts last week, the briefing with Robert Gibbs turned into an unpleasant tussle over whether or not that's a serious amount of money.
So today the president was arguing that the media treats his cuts like they're nothing, but during the campaign treated John McCain's proposal to cut earmarks as a huge story. It was at that point when he turned to me -- standing near the press platform at least 25 yards away -- and said something like: "You remember that, right Chip?"
There wasn't much I could do other than smile. One colleague says he was rude and I should've demanded the microphone to respond.
Actually, I thought it was all in good fun. A little ribbing comes with the job. But I'm looking forward to bringing the topic up again next chance I get.
Chip Reid is CBS News' Chief White House correspondent.
