An angered Robert Novak exited set of CNN ''Inside Politics'' show

Friday, August 5, 2005

The journalist who first revealed in print the Valerie Plame CIA connection, Robert Novak, angrily left the set of an Inside Politics segment Thursday night.

The discussion, led by Ed Henry of CNN, centered on the Florida republican House representative Katherine Harris election prospects in a possible square-off against Florida’s democratic Senate representative Bill Nelson.

The Chicago Sun-Times syndicated columnist and CNN contributor, Novak took offense when co-appearing James Carville interrupted Novak when he was defending the Harris election victory chances. "Let me just finish, James, please," Novak said. "I know you hate to hear me, but you have to."

Carville countered with, "He's got to show these right-wingers that he's got a backbone, you know. It's why the Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you. Show 'em that you're tough."

The discussion was shortened when Novak responded to Carville saying, "Well, I think that's bullshit, and I hate that." Then, with a wave of his hand to moderator Henry, Novak said, "Just let it go." Novak stood and then left the set. Henry never got to ask Novak about his role in the federal probe on the Plame leak led by Patrick Fitzgerald.

CNN suspended Novak indefinitely, despite his apology to the organization. The network said in a statement. "Mr. Novak has apologized to CNN, and CNN apologizes to its viewers for his language and actions. We've asked Mr. Novak to take some time off."

Sources

"Pressure getting to Novak?" — Media Matters for America, August 5, 2005 (video requires Quicktime)
Eric Herman. "Cussing, walking off show gets Novak suspended by CNN" — Chicago Sun-Times, August 5, 2005
Phil Rosenthal. "Novak's outburst, exit stoke CNN's ire" — Chicago Tribune, August 5, 2005

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article has been released into the public domain. In the event that this is not legally possible, this article may be used for any purpose, without any condition, unless such conditions are required by law. This applies worldwide. Copyright terms on images, however, may vary, so please check individual image pages prior to duplication.
Please note that this only applies to Wikinews content created prior to September 25, 2005. All content created after that date is released under a Creative Commons license which is mentioned at the bottom of each article. This is currently the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.