cynicalIn an interview on Fox News Monday, Brown said Obama wants the oil to spread to the Florida coast so he could "pander to environmentalists" and use the crisis for political gain. On "Fox and Friends" the next day, the hosts implied that the Obama administration dragged its feet on the spill so that it would get worse, saying, “The question is, did they let this thing leak?” Brown did not provide any substantiation for his claims, nor did Fox News ask for any.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has criticized the remarks and lack of any attempt to back them up. On CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" tonight, Cooper caught Brown up on inconsistencies between the original remarks and revisions that Brown claimed were the original remarks.
It should be noted that Brown is a former FEMA director in the Bush administration because he was forced to resign for mishandling the Hurricane Katrina crisis, when his previous administrative qualifications were as director of the American Quarter Horse Society. His experience in mishandling crises apparently qualifies him to comment on this one.
New York Times article.
Fox News interview transcript and video.
Anderson Cooper 360 interview video.
