Fareed Zakaria clarifies: ‘The characterization that I have been advising President Obama is inaccurate’

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria has taken to CNN.com today to clarify the characterization that he is advising Pres. Obama on matters of foreign policy. Earlier this week on “In the Arena” Zakaria told Eliot Spitzer that he’s had “face to face meetings” with Pres. Obama on the so-called Arab Spring, specifically the situation in Egypt. Here’s what Zakaria wrote this afternoon:

The characterization that I have been “advising” President Obama is inaccurate. Over the last few months I’ve had a couple of conversations with the president, off-the-record. At no point did President Obama ask me for advice on a specific policy or speech or proposal, nor did I volunteer it. I know that he has had similar meetings with other columnists.

Spitzer, who was leading in his characterization of Zakaria “advising” the president said during their conversation this week, “It makes my heart warm that the president is calling you for wisdom and advice.”

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