Former Vice President Al Gore has been on the defensive on his latest book tour.
Gore — who is promoting “The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change” — has come under fire by interviewers for the recent sale of his Current TV cable network to Al-Jazeera.
The $500 million deal with the company, which is owned by the government of Qatar, netted Gore an estimated $100 million.
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In his book, Gore only makes a quick reference to Al-Jazeera, calling it a "feisty and relatively independent" satellite network.
Questioners ranging from Matt Lauer of NBC’s “Today” to Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central to Joe Scarborough on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC have all pummeled Gore on the Al-Jazeera deal.
Videos of the interviews are posted on both Fox News and Politico.
Stewart asked, for instance: “You had an opportunity to make a statement, probably, about your principles and some people would feel — and for me as well — I thought it was an odd move, not because some of the other things but because [Al-Jazeera] is backed by fossil-fuel money.”
Gore said that Al-Jazeera had “terrific climate coverage.”
“I am very, very comfortable with it,” Gore said of the deal. “I completely get the criticism but this was a good choice. I completely believe in this.”
Stewart added that viewers may find it hard to support Gore’s environmental platforms because Al-Jazeera is “an oil-based company.”
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“Can you see how people at home might think, ‘But he is asking me, in my life, to make choices about light bulbs for the purpose of sustainability’ — that’s the issue?” Stewart asked.
Gore responded that the network has said it would shift to renewable energy — calling Al-Jazeera the “strongest ally in the Arab world” of the United States.
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