Christine O’Donnell Defends Piers Morgan Walk-Out: ‘Borderline Sexual Harassment’

MEDIAITE ^ | 08/19/2011 | Colby Hall

[SeekAndFind]

Judge solely by the amount of attention she has received this week, it’s fair to say that Tea Party darling and aspiring media figure Christine O’Donnell has been successful at promoting her new book Troublemaker. But if you draw a distinction between the quantity and quality of media attention, well then perhaps its a different story all together. This morning O’Donnell showed up on NBC’s TODAY and was fairly interrogated by Savannah Guthrie who questioned O’Donnell’s previous explanations for why exactly she walked off of the set of Piers Morgan Tonight earlier in the week.

For the uninitiated, Morgan pressed O’Donnell on her position on gay marriage, a fair question seeing that it is a topic she includes in her book and is a controversial issue in the upcoming election season. Guthrie did not let the former Tea Party favorite off the hook, essentially asking her “what were you thinking in walking off the set mid-interview?”

Guthrie then challenged an assertion made by O’Donnell in a previous interview that Morgan was being somewhat sexist in his line of questioning, which led to the following exchange (rough transcript provided by TVEyes):

Guthrie: Let’s talk about that because you said flat out you think this line of questioning was sexist. but how do you get to that? The fact of the matter is you have had — you’ve made these comments about masturbation in your past, in the ’90s, and then you write about this in the book you are currently promoting. How is that not fair game? It is common practice to ask any politician, male or female, about their views.

O’Donnell: Right. I addressed — okay. I addressed the questions and I put it in context that, no, Ii would not do that interview again. I explained why I did the MTV interview in the ’90s, but then it goes into a personal nature and starts prying. Imagine if Bill Clinton were there. Would he ask him, do you still hang out with Monica Lewinsky? Come on, we talked about it in the ’90s? Do you still have that fascination with cigars, Bill? Come on, what’s wrong with this? No. If he did ask a male former candidate about that the outcry would be that it belonged on pay-per-view and not a reputable network like CNN. It was an inappropriate line of questioning. I addressed it the way I do in my book. What’s the same about this, Savannah, is the reviews that I’ve gotten, the people who have read the book, even if they disagree with me politically they tell me they finding it surprising and motivational story, that they really are enjoying the book. And all of this, you know, just like what happened in the campaign, the real message is being overshadowed. . that’s a shame because he’s doing it for ratings.

Guthrie: You say they are doing it for ratings. Let’s be honest, you’re wanting to sell books. Some people say it’s a publicity stunt on your part.

O’Donnell: Please. I didn’t want to do Piers Morgan, Honestly because I knew he resorted to these dirty tricks. no, it was certainly not a publicity stunt.

So not only does O’Donnell aggrandize herself by saying that she didn’t want to “do Piers Morgan” (implying that she was somehow a “get” or that she was doing CNN a favor by appearing on the show), but she also likens the line of questioning — and her political stature perhaps — to that of former president Bill Clinton. Huh?

The bottom line is this: whatever O’Donnell is doing to get attention is working. Whether its the sort of attention that will reclaim any sort of reputable image, sell books or just reinforce what many in the public already think of her remains to be seen.

Watch the clip below, courtesy of NBC:

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

[barstoolblues]

Ok. Maybe trigger happy would be a better term.

But there was’t really sufficient reason for her to get on her high horse.
It looked like a show. Not genuine righteous anger. Amatuer.

I heard her on Hannity earlier in the week and thought she was great.
But this made her critics on our side look like they have a point.

[barstoolblues]

Ok. Maybe trigger happy would be a better term.

But there was’t really sufficient reason for her to get on her high horse.
It looked like a show. Not genuine righteous anger. Amatuer.

I heard her on Hannity earlier in the week and thought she was great.
But this made her critics on our side look like they have a point.

[oldbrowser]

This is attack journalism and it is reserved for people that their they dislike. These professionals are basically hecklers asking loaded questions with no interest in a balanced interview.

[Night Hides Not]

However, she is not of the calibre for a national figure.

I don't know about that...IMO, she's of the same calibre of the "Mom in Tennis Shoes". ;^)

[MNJohnnie]

with no interest in a balanced interview

Or listening to the answer. This is Clown Journalism 101, these sup par intellects are so busy posturing for their fellow Journ-o-list blow hards they cannot see how childish and absurd their behavior is to watch.

[TribalPrincess2U]

Uh, she didn’t. She cut it short.

[ngat]

“However, she is not of the calibre for a national figure.”

How was she trying to be a “national figure”? She was only trying to be the senatorial representative of a 3-county state whose ex-senator rode the train to Washington. That’s somewhat like being elected to City Council where I come from. Due to the historical accident of Delaware being one of the original 13 colnies, these locals get 2 senators, but in a provincial sense, and in a big-media age, does it really mean she would have been a “national figure”.

[MarkLevinFan]

Hey there! Seems like old times, doesn’t it?

[TribalPrincess2U]

She should have embarrassed him and good about his obsession with sex. She did try but it wasn’t strong enough. She is a good person but sorry, she isn’t ready for the big time.

[Jim Scott]

Christine O’Donnell didn’t know how to handle hostile media when she ran for the senate last year and apparently she hasn’t learned all that much, since. Miss O’Donnell should watch old clips of Ronald Reagan fielding tough questions from a hostile press corp or, perhaps more relevant, watch Sarah Palin as she has matured in her handling of hostile questions from the MSM. If you’re a conservative politician, when the media shows up, you’re always going to be in ‘enemy territory’. You have to know how to deal with it or be quickly eviscerated by the always-antagonistic media. Most politicians figure it out. A few don’t e.g. Richard Nixon, but those are the exception. Sarah Palin was subtly skewered by Katie Couric in one of Palin’s first network TV interviews - but that was 3 long years ago. She’s learned. Christine O’Donnell still needs to. One free tip: during a hostile interview, when possible and if not inappropriate, use humor as a deflection. You’re welcome.

[isthisnickcool]

Heard the audio first then saw the video.

She was so over the top dramatic it was kind of silly. Morgan is a d*ck but he was asking reasonable questions. Lightweight questions. Either she is a loon or her and her people intended on walking out before they got there.

What happened made no sense because she was being done a favor because her book was being promoted. The reason she was there was to sell books. Heck, Morgan even said he liked the book. After seeing her I would not buy anything she was selling. Strange gal...

[isthisnickcool]

Heard the audio first then saw the video.

She was so over the top dramatic it was kind of silly. Morgan is a d*ck but he was asking reasonable questions. Lightweight questions. Either she is a loon or her and her people intended on walking out before they got there.

What happened made no sense because she was being done a favor because her book was being promoted. The reason she was there was to sell books. Heck, Morgan even said he liked the book. After seeing her I would not buy anything she was selling. Strange gal...

[ngat]

“But there was’t really sufficient reason for her to get on her high horse.”

We can agree to disagree on this one. But when that Pervy Piers Morgan tried to take the interview where he did, I wanted to get on my high horse and horsewhip the guy, because that showed contempt for both his guest and his American audience. Are we supposed to pretend we don’t know when we are being ridiculed?

[Retired Greyhound]

You act as if Piers asked the masturbation question without pretense.

She was very outspoken about the issue at one time. I don’t think it was an unfair question. She should have just answered it instead of being defensive.

[Retired Greyhound]

Just think, had the republicans actually supported her Obamacare would never have passed.

Hate to correct you, but Obamacare had already passed by the time Christine ran in 2010.

[ken21]

good.

[ngat]

“Uh, she didn’t. She cut it short.”

Uh, you were agreeing with barstool that she appeared “gunshy” by walking out by saying walking out wasn’t strong, remember? I’m saying walking out on Pervy Piers was stronger than putting up with his disrespect.

[icwhatudo]

Agreed. She should have just answered the question. I’m so sick of so called conservatives wimping out when it comes to criticizing homosexuality.

[Siena Dreaming]

How was she trying to be a “national figure”?

She was obviously vaunted into the national spotlight day after day and now she's trying to get her book to receive national publicity.

I understand she was trying to be elected for DE and I backed her for the seat against her opponent. But now some may mistake her for some kind of national spokesperson; she doesn't have the calibre for that IMO.

[RVN Airplane Driver]

I guess the real question is if she can’t deal with a broke dick like Piers Morgan and walks out how well would she deal with Valamir Putin or one of those muzzie boys?