Andrew Breitbart: Sherrod "Sees Things Through a Racial Prism"
On Thursday's "Washington Unplugged," conservative commentator and editor Andrew Breitbart spoke with CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante about the firestorm of criticism over the controversial video posted on his BigGovernment.com site that cost Shirley Sherrod her job at the Department of Agriculture.
Breitbart denied that he maliciously edited the video featured on his site."We did not selectively edit it," he said.
Breitbart sought to frame the issue in the context of a battle between the media and the Tea Party. He cited the media's coverage the NAACP resolution condemning "extremist elements within the Tea Party."
"If Tea Party is going to be held to the lowest possible standard that a sign in Ft. Worth may or may not be planted by infiltrators means that the entire Tea Party has to apologize for itself then I'm holding the media and the NAACP accountable for the standards that they set," he said.
Breitbart also compared Sherrod's redemption to the film "Crash" about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles.
He said: "I don't think Sherrod wants America to watch the full video because if you ever saw the movie 'Crash,' an important character in that movie, the racist cop, played by Matt Dillon, in which he sexual assaults a black woman in front of her husband as a means to humiliate him. He's blatantly racist, but at the end of the movie he saves that woman when she's dying in a car crash. When you listen to Shirley, she admits that she sees things in black and white, she says it, but she also did the right thing as it relates to the farmer. "
Breitbart continued, "I believe that Shirley sees things through a racial prism. She has the right to do that. I'm sorry that the White House threw her under the bus. I did not ask for her to be investigated. I did not ask for her to be fired."
But Breitbart concluded that the problem lies squarely with the "mainstream media."
"I am fighting back against the malicious alliance between the NAACP and the media to try to destroy the Tea Party based upon the false charges of racism," he said.
Watch "Washington Unplugged "above, which also features a roundtable discussion on the Sherrod saga with TheLoop21.com's Keli Goff and Washington Times' Gregory Kane . Plus CBS News' Christina Ruffini on North Korea's failed health care system.
More Coverage of Shirley Sherrod:
Shirley Sherrod "Very Pleased" After Phone Call with Obama
Sherrod: I'd Consider Legal Action against Breitbart
Sherrod Story Shows Ugly Side of 24-Hour News
Vilsack: I Will Have to Live With My Mistake
Breitbart: Video Was Meant to Target the NAACP
Case Exposes Raw Wounds About Race
More Coverage in Hotsheet Blog
"Washington Unplugged," CBSNews.com's exclusive daily politics Webshow, appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.
