On last night’s show, msnbc's Martin Bashir grilled Ron Suskind over Confidence Men. The book claims life inside the Obama White House isn't all that peachy, especially for women, because of a boys-club attitude and general dysfunction on how to handle the financial crisis.
Former White House budget director Peter Orszag is one of the only key players to stay fairly mum on Suskind's account — until now. Orszag told Politico criticism against this administration was "inconsistent" with his experience:
"I strongly support the President, and always have. The Administration faced an extremely complex and challenging economic crisis when the President took office, and his leadership has been crucial in avoiding an outright collapse of the economy. Any criticisms of the President's leadership, whether printed in a book or not, are inconsistent with my experience as a member of the economic team working closely with the President."
He didn't offer up any more details. Bloomberg View columnist Jonathan Alter said on our show last night, the White House told staffers not to turn on each other over allegations in the Suskind book.