‘All presidents hate us’
Withmuch of the Fourth Estate on an international vacation covering Barack Obama’s trip abroad, charges of liberal bias in the press are flying fast and furious. But don’t tell that to Helen Thomas – an avowed liberal herself. She thinks nothing of the sort.
Yeas & Nays got a sneak peak at Rory Kennedy’s new HBO documentary — “Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at The White House” — which premieres next month, and Thomas is asked whether most White House reporters are liberal.
“Hell no!” she responds. “I’m dying to find another liberal open their mouths. Where are they!”
Thomas – considered by many to be the dean of the White House press corps – has covered the White House for over 60 years, but it wasn’t until she left longtime employer United Press International and launched a column for Hearst newspapers that she felt completely free to reveal her real politics. She lets loose on presidential politics in the film (it’s those politics, says Thomas, that has caused the Bush administration to dub her a “persona non grata” and issue a “block out” on her during press conferences).
She fondly recalls her reporting on the escapades of President Kennedy – “He’s a good story and they were great copy” – and said she didn’t feel bad at all about invading the first couple’s privacy. As president, said Thomas, “You’ve got to know that your life will be an open book.”
But she exhibited great empathy for what President Clinton went through during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
“I don’t know how he could have taken what he took,” said Thomas. “For reporters, it was a story you couldn’t avoid as much as you’d like to,” but “no president has been subjected to that type of tyranny.”
There was one other topic Thomas feels strongly about: Her sex appeal … or rather, her lack of it. When asked if she ever used her sexuality to benefit her reporting, Thomas laughed and said: “I didn’t have the potential for being a femme fatale. … Nobody made a pass at me … I don’t think I ever got a story out of my charm. Far from it. Maybe quite the opposite.”
HBO will screen the film at the National Press Club on Wednesday, but it’s unclear whether Thomas can attend: the 87-year-old has been in poor health of late.
