CNBC's Jim Cramer got defensive when NBC's Meredith Vieira asked him about criticism by late-nite comic Jon Stewart. "Did I make a mistake? Okay, first of all, any time you recommend a stock and it goes down, you've made a mistake," confessed Cramer.
The CNBC host tried to defend himself. "I did come on [The Today Show] and tell everyone to sell, and when Stewart makes that call, I'm all over him, but he won't do that, because he's a comedian," he said.
Update: John Amato:
I love the fact that NBC is making sure that Cramer gets his soap box to cry about the truthiness Jon Stewart hit him over the head with. Poor CNBC and poor Cramer. Jon Stewart is just a comedian and what does he know? Yes, during the whole market collapse, how many times did Cramer say to sell stocks? He says that he did something an investor is never supposed to do:
Cramer: I came on this show and did something you're never supposed to do if you have a stock show. I said people should sell everything.
Cramer can you see how wrong that is? Why can't a stock show tell the public the truth? I guess because he'd have a tough time filling time on the air. If you can't tell people the truth because you have a "stock show" then why should anyone believe you at all?
And I watched these shows when the news broke about the sub-prime mortgage crisis last year I'd say 80% of them defended the system and dismissed calls of caution from any pundits that said the market was facing a real crisis. They were cranks or just plain scared of their own shadows.
