Politico and the Fox News Channel continued what has become something of a feud this week, with “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy and Politico blogger Ben Smith swapping insults. On Tuesday, Smith wrote a blog post praising Esquire magazine’s recent profile of Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, a piece entitled, “Why does Roger Ailes Hate America?” “If you haven’t checked it out,” Smith enthused, “a must-read.”
The next morning, Doocy struck back, reading on air some of the comments posted beneath Smith’s item on Politico. “Another hit piece by left wing extremist trash masquerading as official journalists in America,” read one. “Wow, Ben, you have some free time this afternoon obviously and you’re not using it to write another smear piece on Palin,” said another.
WATCH: Steve Doocy reads comments questioning Politico blogger Ben Smith’s credibility
Doocy also referred to Smith’s blog post as a “column,” something that seems to have struck a nerve with Smith, who immediately responded. “I stay out of opinion journalism, but must in my life have written something harsher about someone somewhere, without provoking a news outlet to risk what’s left of its reputation by reading anonymous blog comments on the air,” Smith wrote.
Without sourcing anyone from Fox News, or in fact anyone at all, Smith also suggested that Doocy had been ordered by management to attack him on the air. “Doocy’s rant, which he says he drew from reading my column yesterday, but which it’s hard to believe he wasn’t told to do, reflects a remarkably thin skin,” Smith wrote.
The exchange was not without context. Politico has repeatedly relied on the discredited leftwing advocacy group Media Matters for America as a source for negative pieces about Fox News in recent months, including a story that alleged Fox executives told editorial staff to avoid the term “public option” in talks about Obamacare, and another that claimed the network’s management “urged climate skepticism” in coverage of global warming.
Last month, after Politico falsely reported that then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele was not going to run for reelection, Doocy described the site as “left-wing.”
Smith and Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei refused The Daily Caller’s requests for comment or clarification.
WATCH: Steve Doocy rips Politico in mid-December
