Hope and Fail

Claiming reporters didn’t ask about economy … when they did

During the question and answer period at the close of the White House’s jobs summit, President Obama took a shot at the political climate in Washington, saying that during interviews in Asia last month none of the reporters asked him about the economy or about Asia.

Here’s what he said:

I mentioned that I was in Asia on this trip thinking about the economy, when I sat down for a round of interviews. Not one of them asked me about Asia. Not one of them asked me about the economy. I was asked several times about had I read Sarah Palin’s book. (Laughter.) True. But it’s an indication of how our political debate doesn’t match up with what we need to do and where we need to go.

Actually, reporters asked him about both of those topics.

Chuck Todd of NBC and Major Garrett of Fox News asked the president questions about both topics, and Ed Henry of CNN asked about the economy.

First, Chuck Todd, who asked these two questions:

Right before you left for this trip in Asia you announced that you were going to convene a jobs summit. This smacks of one of those classic Washington answers to a tough problem, convene a commission, convene a summit – how is this going to create a job?

Quickly, on human rights – how do you know the Chinese aren’t just paying you lip service because you’re here, you brought it up – that they’re just saying what we in the American media want to hear from them and you want to hear, what’s going to be something tangible?

Major Garrett asked these two questions:

Very good, a couple on the economy, you have a jobs summit next month. You want a jobs bill in 2010. Will that jobs bill raise the deficit or will you demand that it be deficit neutral?

You mentioned trade. Will you make a commitment to in 2010 having Congress pass the pending South Korea trade agreement?

And finally, Ed Henry asked this:

The economy — we received a lot of questions from CNN iReporters who went to our Web site. They wanted to ask you a question directly.

This one is from Guy Watson in Albuquerque. He says he is a disappointed Obama voter and here’s why. He asks: “Why have you chosen to give our tax money to the banks without holding them responsible or forcing them to lower their rates for startups and to facilitate refinancing of foreclosed homes?”

You hear that a lot.

Henry also asked a quick, follow-up question about the Chinese not endorsing sanctions against North Korea.

So why claim that “not one” of them asked about the economy or Asia? Was he even awake during his trip?