In a report at the top of the 8AM ET hour of Tuesday's CBS Early Show, senior White House correspondent Bill Plante ridiculed Sarah Palin for daring to criticize First Lady Michelle Obama's weight loss campaign: "Palin has never been at a loss for an opinion on anything, including taking a pot shot at the First Lady's campaign to eat healthy."
Fill-in news reader Betty Nguyen introduced Plante's report by declaring: "And there's a war over dessert. Yes, a food fight has broken out between the First Lady and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin." Throughout the segment, the headline on screen read: "Palin Food Fight; Dessert War."
Plante began by claiming that Palin "seems to love a good shot, whether it's fired from a gun or launched verbally." He added that "now, she has a regular platform from which to launch them. Her Alaska TV reality show." After playing a clip of Palin saying that the First Lady "said the other day we should not have dessert," Plante made this snarky comment: "The First Lady didn't fire back. But a perfectly good return volley would have been, 'Was Palin saying let them eat cake?'"
Later, another clip of Palin was played, further explaining her objections to Michelle Obama's efforts: "What she is telling us is she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families and what we should eat." Plante failed to play a clip of Obama arguing just that [1] at the December 13 signing ceremony for the Child Nutrition bill: "We can't just leave it up to the parents."
Here is a full transcript of Plante's December 21 report:
8:02AM ET
BETTY NGUYEN: And there's a war over dessert. Yes, a food fight has broken out between the First Lady and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante has the latest. Good morning, Bill.
BILL PLANTE: Good morning, Betty. Well, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin seems to love a good shot, whether it's fired from a gun or launched verbally. And now, she has a regular platform from which to launch them. Her Alaska TV reality show.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Palin Food Fight; Dessert War]
On last Sunday's show she took this shot at a pretty prominent target.
[FOOTAGE OF PALIN FIRING GUN]
SARAH PALIN: Where's the S'mores ingredients? This is in honor of Michelle Obama, who said the other day we should not have dessert.
PLANTE: Palin was apparently referring to this statement from First Lady Michelle Obama, talking about her anti-obesity campaign called 'Let's Move.'
MICHELLE OBAMA: The problem is when things get out of balance. When dessert is practically a food group.
PLANTE: The First Lady didn't fire back. But a perfectly good return volley would have been, 'Was Palin saying let them eat cake?'
PALIN: I shattered it again!
PLANTE: Palin has never been at a loss for an opinion on anything, including taking a pot shot at the First Lady's campaign to eat healthy.
PALIN: Take her anti-obesity thing that she's on. She's on this kick, right? What she is telling us is she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families and what we should eat. Just leave us alone. Get off our back.
OBAMA: Well, this is so far one-sided and don't hold your breath for any response from the First Lady. But think of the possibilities. If there were an on-air shoot-out between a possible contender for her husband's job, and the First Lady, that would be reality TV. Betty.
NGUYEN: Alright. No doubt. CBS's Bill Plante in Washington. Thank you, Bill.
- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow
him on Twitter here. [2]