Gibbs mocks Steele, asks how much he got paid to say that Dems ‘flip the bird to the American people.’

Yesterday, RNC Chairman Michael Steele said that Senate Democrats’ effort to pass health care reform in the face of Republican obstructionism means “they’re willing to basically flip the bird to the American people and slip it in in the dead of night.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid condemned Steele’s incendiary language as “crass.” MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today for President Obama’s “take.” Gibbs responded with a quip about Steele’s lucrative side career as a paid speaker, asking, “How much did that interview cost them?”:

Gibbs was referring to new revelations, reported today by the Washington Times, that Steele is “using his title to market himself for paid appearances nationwide, personally profiting from speeches with fees of up to $20,000.” Former RNC Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf said this practice is highly unusual and ripped Steele: “Holy mackerel, I never heard of a chairman of either party ever taking money for speeches.” “The job of a national chairman is to give speeches,” Fahrenkopf said. “That’s what the national party pays him for.”