MSNBC hosts meet with Obama in White House to discuss publicity for his agenda

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12/4/12, "Obama meets with 'influential progressive media' on fiscal cliff," Politico, Dylan Byers

"President Obama met with a litany of liberal media personalities on Tuesday to push his tax cut message.

Spotted filing into the West Wing were Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Ed Schultz and Al Sharpton.

The meeting was not on the president's public schedule and White House officials initially declined to comment on the meeting. They later issued a statement to POLITICO:

"This afternoon at the White House, the President met with influential progressives to talk about the importance of preventing a tax increase on middle class families, strengthening our economy and adopting a balanced approach to deficit reduction,” spokesman Josh Earnest said.

The Obama administration conducts regular briefings of reporters from different media markets, but this did not immediately appear like such a briefing. According to White House visitor records, O'Donnell, for example, has not attended such briefings before."

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