Politics

‘A HUGE Double Standard:’ Steve Hayes Blasts Media Over Walker Questioning In Obama/Christian Story [VIDEO]

Al Weaver Reporter
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Reacting to The Washington Post’s interview with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in which he said he isn’t sure President Barack Obama is a Christian, columnist Steve Hayes blasted the media for it’s “huge double standard” when it comes to GOP candidates.

Hayes told “Mediabuzz” host Howard Kurtz there is a “huge double standard” with the media’s treatment of Walker and other potential GOP candidates for the White House, adding that the real story within The Post’s story isn’t being talked about by the mainstream media.

“You know, he punched back in the interview. I think if you look at the entire part of the interview the Washington Post published, the actual news was Scott Walker taking on that line of questioning, saying I’m not going to concern myself with this trivial stuff that you are talking about,” Hayes told host Howard Kurtz. “He said I don’t know. It was the same response he gave when he talked about Rudy Giuliani. There’s a huge double standard.”

“He’s made it clear he doesn’t want to engage in this kind of discussion,” Hayes added. “Now, maybe he won’t be able to pull that off but there’s a huge double standard.”

“Republicans are asked about these things far more than Democrats. I think the explanation is obvious. Journalists, if this is the ideological spectrum here, journalists are mostly over here,” Hayes said pointing to the left. “So things that strike — that when a Republican or conservative says something that might be an outlier, but might speak to the Republican base, it strikes journalists as outrageous in a way that it doesn’t if it comes from the left.”

However, Kurtz and former CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson admitted that if Walker had simply said that yes, Obama is a Christian, then this is a non-story. Attkisson added that Walker “better be prepared for a lot tougher questions” as his potential campaign heats up.

“If Governor Walker said, of course he’s a Christian, then there’s no story and no controversy,” Kurtz told investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson.

“If that was a gotcha question, it was a pretty mild gotcha question,” Attkisson said. “He better be prepared for a lot tougher questions than that. But I think Steve’s right, that this is something that it tells a lot by the way he answered the question and the way that the media reacted to it does tell part of the atmosphere, but that’s part of the game.”

“Whether you think it’s a fair question or not, Scott Walker seems to have the view that he is going to talk about what he wants to talk about,” Kurtz said in response. All politicians want to do that. But whether it’s evolution or what so-and-so said, you’ve got to kind of have a way to hit that pitch.”

Al Weaver