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George Will in Fox Debut: 'President Rather Enjoying' Shutdown
Friday, October 4, 2013 10:52 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and commentator George Will made his debut Friday night on Fox News, joining a panel discussion on whether the Obama administration was benefiting from the government shutdown stalemate.
Will joined fellow Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer on the panel, and started the exchange, noting: "The president is rather enjoying this."
For President Obama, Will said, "a crisis is a beautiful thing to create."
Will said Obama had endured "a disastrous September," losing his choice for a successor as Federal Reserve chairman when Larry Summers withdrew as a candidate -- as well as his push to use military force against Syria for its use of chemical weapons.
"He needed to change the subject and this is how he did it," Will noted.
Will also questioned polls showing that 53 percent of Americans thought the government shutdown was "very serious."
"Most of what the government does is transfer payments," he said. "So I don't think 53 percent of the people are affected by this."
He also pointed out Obama's repeated insistence he wants a "clean CR" -- a continuing resolution to fund the government with no policy strings attached, as Republicans have been seeking -- "means 'I want the sequester to continue.'"
Panel host Bret Baier called Will's move to the network from ABC, where he appeared on "This Week" since its start in 1981, "a homerun" for Fox.