The Clinton Foundation scandal continues to spread ever since the news broke that it did not disclose millions of dollars of donations from foreign governments and businessmen.
It’s already infected ABC, as anchor George Stephanopoulos was forced to apologize for personal undisclosed donations to the foundation. He has yet to acknowledge or apologize for some of the other connections that have surfaced.
Ever since former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani stated on Thursday that “I do not believe that the president loves America,” the people in the “mainstream media” have produced more than 8,000 articles on the comment -- which was made at a private Manhattan dinner for 60 or so political donors -- in just a few days.
That led Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee, to release a statement on Tuesday in which he noted: “Coverage has been fueled by reporters grasping for new angles or asking any Republican in range of a microphone to respond to his comments and other unrelated questions.”
While reporting on Rudy Giuliani’s hospitalization on the campaign trail in Missouri on Thursday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith also used the opportunity to discuss Giuliani’s struggling campaign: "We are closely following the news that Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalized overnight in St. Louis where he's undergoing tests. This at a time when his Republican lead has been challenged and he is slipping quickly in the polls." So Smith is not sure if Giuliani’s health is okay, but he knows the New York Mayor’s campaign is going under. Not much of a get well message.
After a report on Giuliani’s hospital visit by a local CBS News station in St. Louis, Smith moved on to the campaign:
This health scare only adds to Rudy Giuliani's troubles on the campaign trail. He has struggled with persistent questions about his personal life and one national poll shows that he has dropped 13 points. Mike Allen from politico.com joins us from Washington.
Smith then decided to make a joke of Giuliani’s health problem and asked Allen’s diagnosis:
SMITH: You might not be feeling too well, either, had you been looking at Huckabee's rise and Giuliani's drop. Can that be part of -- part of what's going on here?