Editor's note: Each week, WorldNetDaily White House correspondent Les Kinsolving asks the tough questions almost no one else will ask. And each week, WorldNetDaily brings you the transcripts of those dialogues with the president and his spokesman. If you'd like to suggest a question for the White House, submit it to WorldNetDaily's exclusive interactive forum MR. PRESIDENT!
At today's White House news briefing, WND asked presidential press secretary Scott McClellan about the president's press conference last night, and got into the fray during an exchange between the spokesman and another reporter about the Minuteman Project.
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WND: Scott, Drudge reports that at last night's presidential news conference, "CBS, NBC and Fox cut off President Bush in mid-sentence as NBC rushed to Donald Trump, Fox to Paris Hilton and CBS to 'Survivor.'" And my first question, why does the president recognize for questions those reporters whose networks treat the White House with such despicable contempt?
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McCLELLAN: Les, the president was glad to answer questions from a diverse group of reporters and he was –
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WND: Oh, it was?
McCLELLAN: – pleased to answer their follow ups, as well. The president took questions for I think well over 45 minutes – well, probably even more, closer to an hour, in terms of questions.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He's an ABC radio affiliate. (Laughter.)
McCLELLAN: But, now, look, in terms of cutting away on the last question, look, I don't think the president took any offense to that. He was trying to wrap it up so that they could do that very thing.
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WND: In recognizing reporters last night, it appeared once more as if the president were following a script of pre-selected names. And my question, does the president believe that the American people really want to see questions by essentially the same old pre-selected reporters every time?
McCLELLAN: Les, some of your colleagues in this room might not like that kind of question here. (Laughter.)
WND: That's just tough duck.
McCLELLAN: But in terms of – it is good to have you back, though. In terms of your question, the president typically likes to start with some of the larger news organizations and some of the traditional media, and then open it up from there. That's just the way he approaches it.
WND: You mean those networks that are losing – they are losing and those newspapers that are losing circulation?
WorldNetDaily later got involved in a series of questions from another reporter about the Minuteman Project.
SALEM BROADCASTING: Scott, organizers of the Minuteman Project were here in Washington this week and they were claiming success for their 20-day effort patrolling – they say legally patrolling – a stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border. I'm wondering if the White House has any – had any chance to review their efforts at all, and what the president's view is of citizens taking this kind of action?
McCLELLAN: I haven't heard any update from any – official government update on the activities along the border. I think the president and we've expressed our views on this issue and made our views known. The president's initial concern was that people who are armed might be taking matters into their own hands, instead of letting the appropriate authorities deal with these matters. The president believes very strongly that people ought to report suspicious activity to the proper authorities and let the proper authorities address it. And so any concern that we have would be with, you know, loose group of armed individuals trying to take matters into their own hands.
SALEM: They claim they were giving just that, they were reporting suspicious behavior.
McCLELLAN: That's why I pointed out the difference in our concerns. If people are simply reporting suspicious activity to the proper authorities for them to follow up and act on, that's a different matter.
SALEM: So if they do that without weapons then the President would welcome that sort of activity?
McCLELLAN: Well, again, I would leave it there. I'm not going to try to speculate a hypothetical situation. But that's the distinction I would make.
WND: They're not vigilantes, in other words.
McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, Les?
WND: The Minutemen are not vigilantes.
McCLELLAN: Are you talking about the president's comments earlier during the summit down in Waco? Is that what you're referring to?
WND: Where he – I think he –
McCLELLAN: And that was before – let's –
WND: – certainly implied that all these people were vigilantes.
McCLELLAN: I think –
WND: And I don't know they hanged anybody. I never heard of them hanging anybody.
McCLELLAN: I think that was a question that was asked before some of those activities took place, and there were a lot of reports about people taking things into their own hands. And that would be something that would greatly concern the administration.
WND: The Minutemen didn't take it into their own hands, did they?
McCLELLAN: You've had your questions, thank you.
