Christine O’Donnell made it all the way to the end of a 10-minute segment with Today Show‘s Savannah Guthrie this morning and addressed the infamous “walk-off” interview she did with CNN’s Piers Morgan on Tuesday night.
The former Delaware Senatorial candidate (and current book author) reiterated that she had no problem answering his questions generally, but she thought Morgan was “berating” her with a line of questioning she labeled as “borderline sexual harassment.” She suggested that if Bill Clinton were a guest, there’s no way Morgan would have asked about Monica Lewinsky or whether he still has a “fascination” with cigars.
O’Donnell also denied that she actually walked out at all, saying that she simply got up to leave because she was late for another event and the interview seemed to be over. “He needs the ratings, which is why he’s exaggerating what happened,” she said of Morgan. “I didn’t storm off. His sound person is the one who took off my mic.”
Guthrie did get O’Donnell to explain her position on gay marriage, which the Tea Party darling described as “the same as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and Michele Bachmann: that I believe in state’s rights, but I also think that the church has the First Amendment right to define marriage as it wishes.”
So let’s break this down. First off, the ball is definitely in Piers’ court now (and don’t think he won’t grab it and make a play — this is the best thing that’s happened to him since super-bitchin’ Charlie Sheen was on last March). Did his producers take her mic off on their own accord, or were they instructed to do so by O’Donnell’s handlers? Was the interview actually over and just framed as a walk-off?
Next, O’Donnell made a nice move linking her views to those of Obama and Clinton, two of the nation’s most prominent Democrats who still haven’t come out in favor of federal legislation supporting gay marriage. She was able to answer the question about gay marriage — she wanted to answer it all along, if only Piers hadn’t been so damn rude! — without having to get into her actual positions on homosexuality itself.
It would have been interesting had Guthrie asked her about her successful primary campaign to unseat incumbent Mike Castle, which included a rumor that he was cheating on his wife with a man. Guthrie also could have asked if O’Donnell has denounced her previous statements made in a 1997 C-SPAN video that showed the politician claiming that the country spends too much money treating AIDS as opposed to cancer and heart disease. In the video, O’Donnell says people suffering from AIDS should not be referred to as “victims,” and labels homosexuality as an unhealthy activity akin to eating fatty foods and smoking.
O’Donnell does, however, have a point on the masturbation issue, which she has actually denounced repeatedly. She was young and passionate and shared her beliefs, but has made it clear that it’s no longer part of her platform as a politician. It was low-hanging fruit, and Morgan plucked it.
But the sexism accusations are suspect. Would Morgan ask Clinton about Lewinsky? Of course he would. It was a defining part of his presidency. Would he ask him if he still likes cigars? Probably not, as Clinton never went on MTV or C-SPAN to try to get others to understand that kinky sex is the path to eternal salvation.
One thing is certain: O’Donnell still makes for good TV and hasn’t lost her knack for making headlines. And don’t expect this to be the last we hear from her: O’Donnell told Guthrie that although she hasn’t made up her mind about running for office again, she looks forward to continuing as a leader “in this movement” in 2012.
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Christine O’Donnell walks off Piers Morgan interview
it wasnt creepy you idiot if you need publicity go on the idiot site you just keep ditching the issues yore the creep odonnell
Her snap from bossy bich to fake smile at 0:04-06 is priceless… What a classic T-bag airhead.
Holy crap, that was funny!
Very funny moment.
Thank you for pointing that out. I wasn’t going to watch one more minute of that c**t. But I had at least watch that.
This chick’s a clown, if this is the best the GOP has to offer, then you’ll be seeing a Dem in the White House for a looooooooooong time.
Cute brunette. Kissable lips. A little kooky.
Give me a break! She is such a lightweight she can’t think on her feet. Put on your big girl panties, COD, if you plan to deal with adults. Questions aren’t unfair just because you’re too dumb to figure out how to answer them without a publicist. Who’d have thought COD had anything in common with Paris Hilton?
Female politicians can’t have it both ways. If you want to be treated as a CANDIDATE, and not as a FEMALE candidate, you can’t get huffy about questions you don’t like and shout sexual harrassment.
EXACTLY! You want to play with the big boys, you have to take all the hits they would. I hate it when women play the whole ‘sexual harassment’ card when they know full and well it isn’t. Very degrading to women who have actually experienced it.
Christine O’Donnell is a Sarah Palin clone.
This woman has a huge problem with sex. Morgan wasn’t “creepy” or harrassing her. He was asking tough questions that she didn’t want to answer. If she has hang-ups, then that’s her problem. Frankly, I think she needs a good therapist.
They weren’t even tough questions. They were just questions. She was trying to generate publicity and she did.
But asking which of them (Piers or Christine) is more irritating and smug is like making me choose who is more vapid: Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan. … Hmm, choices, choices.
Right. They weren’t tough questions, and if she’d just answered them in the first place instead of trying to steer them off in the direction of her pre-planned talking points, it would have been much less awkward. It sounds like she answered most of the same questions here; the difference this time is that she knew they were coming this time, so she was able to plan out her canned responses to them.
I may be a staunch Republican, but it would have to be a pretty bad opponent running against her for me to ever vote for her.
I don’t understand who supports people like this. She is in no way electable why waste your money contributing to her?
At least she didn’t turn him into a toad. Or something worse, like a Republican!
Her staff had to pull her off and block the camera? This woman is so amateur that her people need to pull her strings and protect this fragile little whacko. Oy vey!
The ideas of this woman are the creepy factor that is all. She can think what she wants at her home, behind close doors but to try to embark people with her..no just no..creepy ideas, creepy woman..creepy futur..
Doesn’t O’Donnell know that in the Republican party you always blame the victim in cases of sexual harassment?
Probably the dumbest comment I have read all day. Just saying….
He was asking about her position on equal rights for gays, not sex. It says a lot about her mentality that she conflates the two.
Most people who don’t support equal rights seem to be fixated on the sexual component, instead of the love and relationship part. It does kinda make you wonder.
I love how she thinks she’s insulting Piers by saying he needs the ratings. Why are you on his show then? Frankly, she should be lucky someone even wants her on their show, let alone if she wants to be there. Face it, she’s a dolt.
Calling her a dolt is an insult to me!
If she thought Morgan was so far beneath her, why did she delay her speaking engagement (which she alluded to over and over) to go on his show?
The bigger question: why is this woman who has never held a job, and really done nothing other than repeatedly running for office and losing, constantly on my TV?
After the whole stink, just to make make my own mind, I watched the Morgan-O’Donnell interview in entirety; didn’t know the show, didn’t know the man, didn’t have an opinion of either persons.
Gah, no matter her day-after excuses, O’Donnell was fine during the interview; laughing, engaging with Morgan and fervently pushing her book with every word. When he began to ask her questions about where she stood with the gay & lesbian community, her response was equivalent to “read my book.” When he wouldn’t budge on getting an answer for his question, she became belligerent and ended the interview.
The Today Show was incredibly biased in favour of O’Donnell, from their cut-and-paste promo to the pandering of a ridiculously moronic guest. Either NBC has a financial interest in O’Donnell or they’ve tossed their journalistic integrity out the window in favour of pandering to sensationalistic idiots like O’Donnell and the Kate Gosselin.
O’Donnell may back pedal as much as she likes, but I wouldn’t by her crayola written book if it were in a dollar bin. Whomever she thinks she is, she is not big enough for me to care. JMO
I agree with many of your comments, however, watching the Today show I had a very different opinion. I felt Savannah was asking appropriate questions that directly made O’Donnell seem like she was just there for book sales. I felt Savannah was asking similar questions as Pierce, but because she too is female that O’Donnell didn’t seem to take as much offense.
As a Democrat / Independent, I’m sad to say that O’Donnell is kind of right that Obama shares her view on same-sex marriage, at least politically. I’m sure in their private lives, these politicians believe whatever they believe, but it’s sad that a sitting US President like Obama is too weak to actually take a strong position on anything, blah. In the primary of 2008, I’m sure Hillary also put forth that old middle-man position of “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman personally, but States should be free to choose, blah blah blah…” HOWEVER… I have a feeling if Hillary were elected Pres. in 2008, today she would allow her strong convictions take over and wouldn’t be such a wet noodle. Anyway, it’s sad, but on the issue of gay marriage, O’Donnell isn’t as crazy as she seems — at least in calling out the others who share her political views.
he was asking her about stuff in her book. She should proably read it first
Wow, as a republican….. I surely hope I never see her on a ballot. I may just have to vote Democrat