A Fox News interview with Karl Rove ended abruptly Wednesday after the conservative analyst repeatedly suggested potential Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin had a "thin skin."
Earlier this week, Palin had lashed out at Rove and other pundits for speculating that she may or may not run in 2012.
"What is it about Governor Palin that if anyone says her name, someone like you, that it just explodes?" Fox News host Greta Van Susteren asked Rove. "Is that the media or is that Governor Palin or is that Karl Rove?"
"No, no, that's Governor Palin," Rove asserted. "I'm mystified. Look, she is all upset about this saying I'm trying to sabotage her in some way. And how dare I speculate on her future. If she doesn't want to be speculated about as a potential candidate, there's an easy way to end the speculation. Say, 'I'm not running.'"
"It is a sign of enormous thin skin if we speculate about her, she gets upset. And I suspect, if we didn't speculate about her she would be upset and try to find a way to get us to speculate about her."
Van Susteren tried to steer Rove's rage back toward the subject of the media but he continued to talk about Palin.
"End the speculation by saying, 'I'm not going to be a candidate.' Until then, I would recommend she might get a slightly thicker skin. If she has this thin a skin now when people are saying, 'I think she might be a candidate,' how is she going to react if she does get into the campaign and gets the scrutiny that every candidate does get?" Rove asked.
"I mean, that's not going to be a pretty sight if she's as thin-skinned in the fray as she is on the edges of it."
After that comment, Rove was quickly interrupted by a "Fox News Alert" about Steve Jobs' resignation from Apple, news that had been first reported hours earlier.
