The feud between Fox News contributor Sarah Palin and political analyst Karl Rove continues to escalate. On Saturday's edition of Fox's media watchdog program, Fox News Watch, conservative Fox contributors Liz Trotta and Judy Miller weighed in, on and off the air, while discussing Palin's new reality show, Sarah Palin's Alaska.
As we documented, Rove criticized Palin's show recently, reportedly telling the Daily Telegraph: “With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office'.” Rove later apologized and praised Palin for a “very impressive speech” but refused to comment on her presidential heft.
On Fox News Watch, when contributor Ellis Henican and host Jon Scott asserted that left-wing groups are criticizing Palin and pushing Discovery Communications to axe the show, Miller replied:
MILLER: She got a network to pay her a million dollars per episode to do this. But I found the most interesting review to come from Karl Rove, who is not exactly a left-wing lunatic, who said this is not going to advance her presidential prospects. This doesn't make her look presidential. I'd listen to Karl.
Trotta added:
TROTTA: And the numbers keep going down every time she makes an appearance -- her popularity numbers. You have to keep track of those. The more you see her, the less you like her, and overexposure is something the Democrats have to pray for. ... Plus the fact that they can bank on the timidity of most men, who are so absolutely spooked by feminism that they are afraid to criticize her.
Henican then cracked: “Give her something on the Cartoon Network.”
Miller's and Trotta's off-air comments proved to be even harsher. In a video of what presumably was a commercial break before the on-air discussion of Palin's show, Trotta brought up a recent column by The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley, saying:
TROTTA: Alessandra Stanley had the best line. She said the new show is like the Sound of Music without the Nazis, and without the romance, and without the music.
There was laughter all around before Miller continued:
MILLER: Oh, The Washington Post hated it, too, though. Did you see his review?
TROTTA: Yes. It was very --
MILLER: Oh, my goodness!
TROTTA: -- it was very bad.
MILLER: He said the kind of sound of a voice when warning you to heed the bears -- it would actually scare the bears.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute.
TROTTA: Absolutely right. Absolutely right.
MILLER: He said you just get the sense that all she's waiting for when she's looking at this great outdoors is to get back to her SUV for enough bars to send out her latest twitter about the beauty of the environment.
Palin hasn't taken too kindly to the criticism. As we've noted, she responded to Rove's Daily Telegraph comments on Fox News' On the Record by calling him “paranoid” and slammed critics mentioned in a Politico article as “Neanderthals,” “goofballs,” and “nitwits.” Incidentally, Rove was one of those critics cited in article, who were said to be “concerned” that Palin “will run, and could win” the GOP nomination in 2012.