Fox Fires Back at Obama

Who's the real bully in the war of words between the White House and Fox News? In a public battle playing out over political talk shows on Sunday, both are pointing fingers at the other. White House Communications Director Anita Dunn recently dismissed the network, saying that it is "like a wing of the Republican Party," and Obama eschewed Fox News Sunday when he appeared on five other morning news shows last month. The White House seems to have grown particularly sensitive to Fox after its recent coverage of health-care demonstrations, Van Jones, and ACORN. Fox executives penned a public letter that stated the White House was getting sidetracked from the country's real issues since members of the administration are "declar[ing] war" on the network. Fox News regular Karl Rove said it was "undignified" of the president to get involved in criticizing the network. On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod reiterated that the administration doesn’t really view Fox News as a news organization. Though Fox had earlier accused the White House of freezing them out, David Axelrod said on ABC's This Week that administration officials are open to appearing on the network in the future.