Fox News' Garrett ignored McCain campaign attack ads on Obama during Gustav

Written by Jeremy Holden & Matt Gertz

Published

On Special Report, Major Garrett stated that “Barack Obama made the decision not to attack [Sen. John] McCain and [President] Bush” and later claimed, "[J]ust a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, [Sen. Joe] Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav." But neither Garrett nor Brit Hume noted that McCain ran attack ads that day or that a campaign spokesman reportedly attacked Obama.

During the September 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Fox News congressional correspondent Major Garrett stated that "[Sen.] Barack Obama made the decision not to attack [Sen. John] McCain and [President] Bush" and later claimed, "[J]ust a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, [Sen. Joe] Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav." But neither Garrett nor host Brit Hume noted that McCain ran attack ads that day or that a campaign spokesman reportedly attacked Obama, as the Obama campaign reportedly pointed out.

Indeed, a search* of the TVEyes.com database for September 1 found that McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee aired an ad approved by McCain on numerous broadcast stations that asserted, “Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans. ... They're ready to tax, ready to spend -- but not ready to lead.”

Further, in a September 1 post on the Tribune Washington bureau blog The Swamp, Mark Silva reported that McCain campaign chief strategist Steve Schmidt said of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's presumptive running mate, “She is, by any objective experience, more accomplished than Sen. Obama.... We'll stack up her accomplishments against his any day of the week... Governors run things.”

From the September 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

GARRETT: Barack Obama made the decision not to attack McCain and Bush just moments before hitting the stage here at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit, where the city's beloved jazz festival is still going on. And throughout the day, he has held to a “no politics” standard. The same, however, cannot be said for his running mate. Joe Biden eschewed politics this morning at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh, which he did not attend, and an economic roundtable. But just a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav -- Brit.

HUME: OK, Major. Thank you. Still ahead, what President Bush has done to make sure Hurricane Gustav does not become another Katrina.

And it was once the most dangerous places in Iraq. Now a major turnaround is celebrated today in Anbar province. We'll tell you what happened there when we come back.

From the 6 p.m. ET hour of the September 1 broadcast on CBS Detroit affiliate WWJ:

ANNOUNCER: Take away the crowds, the chants -- all that's left are costly words. Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans, billions in new government spending, years of deficits, no balanced budgets, and painful tax increases on working American families. They're ready to tax, ready to spend -- but not ready to lead.

McCAIN: I'm John McCain, and I approve this message.

* Search terms in TVEyes.com: “I'm John McCain and I approve this message” for September 1.