James Carville Slams Obama on Oil Spill: 'We're About to Die Down Here!' Stephanopoulos Still Spinning
ABC political strategist, and prominent Democrat, James Carville appeared on
Wednesday's Good Morning America to condemn Barack Obama's response to the oil
spill.
A very emotional Carville surprised host George Stephanopoulos, a friend and
former colleague in the Clinton White House, by shouting, "
And it just looks
like he's not involved in this! Man, you have got to get down here and take
control of this!" [Audio available
here.]
Carville, a resident of Louisiana, attacked, "
Put somebody in charge of
this and get this thing moving! We're about to die down
here!"
Stephanopoulos seemed taken aback by the intensity of his fellow Democrat
and tried to spin for Obama: "Well, the President is going down on Friday. He's
announcing these tighter new regulations on Thursday." The host implored, "What
more can the President do here?"
Stephanopoulos, who also talked to former Bush pollster Matthew Dowd,
attempted to direct the conversation away from the spill in the Gulf and towards
immigration. He gently pivoted, "Okay. You've answered that question."
But, Carville returned to the topic and, again, snapped, "The Attorney
General needs to investigate criminal negligence on the part of BP and what went
on at MMS. There are a thousand of things that [Obama] can do. He just needs to
get down here and start doing something. People are dying!"
Stephanopoulos reiterated, "Okay. Well, the President is going to be there on
Friday."
With a strong Democrat like James Carville blasting the President's handling
of the oil spill, it may become difficult for journalists to continue covering
for Obama on this subject.
A transcript of the May 26 segment, which aired at 7:06am EDT, follows:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, the White House denies any political motivation
here. But, immigration and this oil spill have become two, big political
headaches for the administration. So, let's bring in our political strategist,
James Carville, worked for Bill Clinton. Matthew Dowd, pollster for George W.
Bush, also some Democrats, as well. And, James, let's begin with the oil spill.
Last week, even though you're an ally of President Obama, you blasted the White
House. Said it was a lackadaisical response, said they were naive for trusting
BP. And you went on to say that this is a disaster of the first magnitude. They
have got to go to Plan B. Are we seeing Plan B now?
JAMES CARVILLE: Man, I hope so, George. Because, the political stupidity is
unbelievable. Here, you have a situation, where you have some working- 11
working- hard-working people, blown up as the result of corporate malfeasance
and maybe criminal negligence, as a result of inept bureaucrats who were part of
the- you can actually blame the previous administration for this. And the
President doesn't get down here in the middle of this. This thing should be- his
approval should be up seven points right now if he had come down. I have no idea
of why they didn't seize this thing. I have no idea of why their attitude was so
hands-off-y here. It's just unbelievable. Now, I hope he sees it now, because
very seldom do you get good politics and the really the right thing to do. And
that is to get involved here.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, the President is going down on Friday. He's
announcing these tighter new regulations on Thursday. Matthew Dowd, you
lived through Katrina with President Bush. What we are seeing now, for the first
time on this issue, a majority disapprove of how he's handling it. But, do
you see this posing a Katrina-like threat, political threat to President
Obama?
MATTHEW DOWD: Well, I think this incident that happened, the environmental
disaster that happened, is another example for the American public that they
can't trust corporations and big government to protect them. And I think
ultimately, it will be a real political problem. It hasn't affected his numbers
yet. But, James is right. In a disaster like this, his numbers should be going
up. Not just staying stagnant. And, ultimately, I think the country right now is
so frustrated on a lot of things. This is just another example where they say,
"What is government doing? And what can they do well?" We have disasters. And
we're seeming to be on Plan G "
STEPHANOPOULOS: But, let me ask both of you this: What more can the
President do here? He didn't-
CARVILLE: George! George! George! The President of the United States could
have come down here. He could have been involved with the families of these 11
people. He could have commandeered the things. We could have sent the Woods Hole
people. He could have sent the Scripps on research vessels in the Gulf of
Mexico. He could have implemented a plan in anticipation of this. You know,
right, he can't exactly fill the hole up. Last night I was on Larry King, the
CEO, the former CEO of the Shell. They said they got 85 percent of the stuff
cleaned up in the Gulf of Saudi Arabia. He could be commandeering tankers and
making BP bring tankers in and clean this up. They could the deploying people to
the coast right now. He could be deploying people to the coast. He could be with
the corps of engineers and the Coast Guard with these people in Plaquemines
Parish, doing something about these regulations. These people are crying.
They're begging for something down here. And it just looks like he's not
involved in this! Man, you have got to get down here and take control of this!
Put somebody in charge of this and get this thing moving! We're about to die
down here!
STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay. You've answered that question. Let me turn to Matthew
Dowd on immigration. Another big political wave heading toward the President,
announcing these new troops towards the border. Will this be enough to stem
this political wave that's coming right at him?
DOWD: No. Not at all. And, I mean, ultimately, this was a political move. He
would not have done this but for what happened with Arizona and what's going on
in the rest of the country. It's not just an Arizona problem. The rest of the
country thinks the government is broken and can't- doesn't have an immigration
policy. So, yeah. I think this is a symbolic act. It's not going to- 1,200
troops on the border that stretches from California to Texas is not going to do
anything to stop drugs from coming over or stop the gang killings and all the
things going on. It is symbolic. Presidencies, as James just said- Symbolism is
very important. If you show up at a disaster, it's important. I think the
symbolism here, it's not going to have substantive effect. But it is a political
problem when the majority of the country supports what Arizona did.
STEPHANOPOULOS, And clearly, James, the Arizona member of Congress, Gabrielle
Gifford, who announces he's happy with what the President is announcing. But,
the President has also got to manage a lot of others in his Democratic base, who
are concerned that the push for comprehensive immigration reform may stall.
CARVILLE: He does. It's a heck of a problem. I'm not exactly sure if you hear
conflicting things. Some think that the crime rate in Arizona is down, with the
number of illegals into Arizona is down over a period of time. I have no idea
what the facts are. But, obviously, they have some problem on their border. They
really feel that way. This is an area of great frustration. And he's doing
something. Hopefully this works. But, man, he's got to- the other thing he needs
to do. They need to launch a criminal investigation. The Attorney General needs
to investigate criminal negligence on the part of BP and what went on at MMS.
There are a thousand of things that he can do. He just needs to get down here
and start doing something. People are dying!
STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay. Well, the President is going to be there on Friday.
Thank you both for your passion and insight this morning.
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on
Twitter.