On his Tuesday radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh excoriated Politico for publishing a piece by Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei that lamented the Obama administration’s careful curtailment of “impromptu” media moments, noting that the Virginia-based outlet last summer chastised The Daily Caller’s Neil Munro for daring to ask the president an unsolicited question in the Rose Garden.
“There’s this little passage [in the Politico piece]: ‘At the same time this White House has greatly curtailed impromptu moments where reporters can ask tough questions after a staged event or snap a picture of the president that was not shot by government paid photographers,’” Limbaugh said. “Well, let me tell you what I remember about that. The president strolled out into the Rose Garden one afternoon and made some remark about something … and a reporter from The Daily Caller by the name of Neil Munro asked a question. This was an impromptu moment. It was an impromptu question after a staged event, and what you guys do?” (RELATED VIDEO: Munro explains Rose Garden exchange with the president)
“You guys at Politico joined in attacking Neil Munro for having the audacity to ask Obama a question at a staged event — that that wasn’t the right time to ask that question, and you guys practically chased Neil Munro down to the Washington Monument and you gave him holy hell for what he had done,” he continued. “And some members of the White House press corps demanded that Munro lose his press credentials.”
Limbaugh cited a June 15, 2012 Politico story by Byron Tau and Donovan Slack that called Munro’s question “a surprising breach of etiquette.” (RELATED: Obama golfs with Tiger Woods, takes no media questions)
“[A]ll he was doing was attempting to ask a question in an impromptu moment after a staged event,” Limbaugh said. “Suddenly you say that you’re denied. Munro did it and when he did it, you jumped in his chili and chased him down to the Washington Monument. … And the reason why they called it heckling is because Munro is from a conservative media outlet, The Daily Caller. All Munro was doing was what Politico people say the White House is not letting them do anymore: impromptu moments where reporters can ask tough questions after a staged event.”
