Rick Santelli went on the air with ex-con G. Gordon Liddy and said the White House was threatening him after his Wall street-wingnut-frat boy rant o
February 26, 2009

Rick Santelli went on the air with ex-con G. Gordon Liddy and said the White House was threatening him after his Wall street-wingnut-frat boy rant on CNBC.

SANTELLI: He started that press conference saying, "I don't know where he lives. I don't know where his house is." This is the press secretary of the White House. Is that the kind of thing we want? Is that what it --

LIDDY: That's a veiled threat.

SANTELLI: It really is. You know what? This isn't about left or right. I wasn't for any of the bailouts under the last administration. But I don't realize or recall reading the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution where it says that once you vote for somebody in November, you put duct tape over your mouth and you can't say a word for the next four years. That's just not right.

LIDDY: No, it isn't. And that's a veiled threat, you know, "We know where you live," and so forth.

SANTELLI: It really -- it's quite scary.

I watched him on the TODAY Show this morning, which gave him plenty of air time and when Matt Lauer confronted him by saying it's very silly to think the White House was threatening him, he actually blamed his wife. Kinda shows you the make up of these carnival on air bullies. He actually blames his wife. What a phony.

These same Wall Streeters whining about average Americans getting a bailout have themselves been saved by the government already -- otherwise, these clowns would be going lining up at the soup kitchen. But if American families are being helped, people like Santelli are appalled. What kinda populism izzat?

LAUER: Let me take this a step further. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, commented, called you out in the briefing room, and after you heard his comments, you said that he was threatening you. Are you serious about that?

SANTELLI: Listen, let's put it this way. Matt, you're married, are you not?

LAUER: Yeah, I am.

SANTELLI: OK. This is more about the feelings my wife had when she watched the body language and listened to what he was saying, and I think you understand --

LAUER: But this is the White House press secretary. Do you think he's going to threaten you on national television?

So now his wife is a body language expert like Bill O'Reilly uses, and she found hidden meanings in Robert Gibbs comments. Talk about Zombie excuses.

SANTELLI: Well, let's rephrase the question. Do we think it's normal to be named by name, as opposed to the general media at large, say the cable guy or some of the comments? I find, my wife finds, and many of my friends find that the direct confrontation and pointing me out by name just is not ordinary, and I'll leave it at that and let people make their own judgment.

LAUER: And I completely understand your supporting Rick, and Rick, I'm sure your wife is a lovely person. However, what Robert Gibbs said was, basically, he was -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- he was saying he's not sure that as a former trader and current television personality, you're living in the same kind of neighborhoods where people are struggling to pay their mortgages. He wasn't threatening you.

SANTELLI: Well, listen, I'm not saying threatening. And just to be pinpointed specifically, I find very unusual, and I think that it's more of a decision for you as the press or all the people on the lawn that giggled at the joke about caffeine -- and it was funny -- but how would they like to be pinpointed specifically? I think that's the issue at hand. I don't want to make more out of this. You know, here I am, and I want to continue to do what I've always done, and that is, question motivation, whether it's the Fed chairman, and we know --

LAUER: Right, but the only thing I would say -- the only thing, Rick, I would say --

SANTELLI: -- that he wants the economy to cure down the road, but is it true?

LAUER: But the only thing I would say , Rick, is if you go out of your way to call out the president of the United States, you have to expect that his representative may go out of his way to call you out. Isn't that go -- doesn't that go with the territory?

SANTELLI: Well, what we're really saying is calling out -- as a member of the press, do I not get to ask a question or question the system? I understand that. I just --

LAUER: And as the press secretary, doesn't he have the right to ask you a question?

SANTELLI: He certainly does. It would be nice if he did it face to face, but I don't know that he needs to throw out my name. I just have an issue with that.

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