Barack Obama vs. FOX News Channel

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," August 11, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Is the FOX News Channel systematically and deliberately painting a false picture of Michelle Obama?

Senator Obama says yes, the Senator slamming FOX News in an interview with the magazine "Marie Claire." Senator Obama said this in part when asked if his wife Michelle is misunderstood-

"I think that if you've been watching Fox News, then probably she's misunderstood, because I do think there has been a fairly systematic attempt by the conservative press to paint her in a completely false way."

We have been trying to get senator Obama here "On the Record" for months. He and his wife Michelle are welcome here any time.

So what is senator Obama talking about? Joining us live is Joanna Coles, the editor in chief of "Marie Claire." She interviewed Senator Obama for the magazine.

It's nice to see you Joanna.

JOANNA COLES, "MARIE CLAIRE": Thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: Joanna, did he say anything more about FOX News? Was he say specific as to who he has a beef with here?

COLES: No. It was really a much more general attack on the conservative media. He didn't single you out, Greta, but I'm sure you would have been in there.

Watch Greta's interview

And he felt very much that FOX had portrayed Michelle as angry and not at all as the woman he knows her, and he felt anxious that he wants people to know that she is actually friendly and really wrestling with the issues that a lot of women in America are wrestling with, namely jobs and family.

VAN SUSTEREN: I guess I am a bit curious that he would, at least for our show at 10:00 that he would think that we had ever said anything derogatory about Michelle. I do not think we have. I would have to go back through.

We certainly have pounded him on Reverend Wright. There is no question about that. But was unable to say-was he the least bit specific so I can go back and try to see what it is that he finds so offensive?

COLES: No, he wasn't specific. He felt it was a general thing by the conservative media, and it slightly was an echo of the phrase Hillary Clinton had used when she said that she felt that there had been a right- wing conspiracy against her husband Bill.

Senator Obama felt but the conservative media, and, in particular, FOX News, was deliberately misrepresenting Michele as angry, and I think that is one of the reasons that they have really kept her back from the current phase of the campaign.

We have noticed that she is much less visible than she was certainly during some of the earlier primary rallies, and she is just much less in evidence than she was earlier in the campaign. And I think that is a shame.

We know that we will see her at the convention, and we are very much looking forward to it. But I think it's a shame that she has not been out there a bit more, and maybe that would alleviate some of the criticisms he has had.

VAN SUSTEREN: What is so interesting is that Michelle Obama, likewise, has an open invitation here. But Senator Clinton, who had that criticism of many in the media, has appeared on this show a number of times, she's appeared with Bill O'Reilly, she's been on with Chris Wallace.

She is not running for cover, and, in fact, it was Senator Obama, I think, who would not even participate in debates here. So, whatever.

Anyway, he does not like us. I got that.

Now, let me ask about women readers. "Marie Claire" is a big, it's a magazine many, many thousands of women read. Is there sort of a general thought among your readers about Senator Obama and his wife?

COLES: I think what people will respond to in the interview is that he really talks about women's issues, and this is a man who has got a wife who at certain times in their marriage has earned more than him.

And he talks a lot about how they have dealt in their marriage when he has been away, and how she would get annoyed with him when she was left with a full-time job and looking after the children.

And he talks about how it really became, as I think a lot of families find, much easier for them when they really began to earn some money as a couple.

And he talks about the fact that they could order take-in, or they could order take-out into the house, which took the pressure off of Michelle cooking a bit, that they reached a stage where they could actually have somebody come in and do the laundry.

And those little things that I think many women in America would feel great about being able to contract out to someone else, because when you have got a full-time job, and everybody is working such long hours now, and you have got children, and you have got a demanding husband, it is difficult to hold all together.

And he is very sympathetic about those issues, and they are important to him.

And he did talk a lot about his feelings as a father, that he was not always in his girls' lives as much as he would have liked to have been. And he talked about the difficulties of having a job that takes you away from home.

VAN SUSTEREN: And, indeed, you can read the entire interview in "Marie Claire" the September issue. And it's a great interview.

Joanna, always nice to see you. And we'll read "Marie Claire," that's the lace to see this interview. Anyway, thank you, Joanna.

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