NPR host scolds O’Malley for being late to interview

NPR host Diane Rehm scolded former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley for missing a scheduled in-person interview on her radio show Tuesday morning.

“Gov. O’Malley, I must say I’m somewhat surprised that you could not make it here in time as you had promised to,” she said when O’Malley called into “The Diane Rehm Show” instead of visiting NPR’s studio.

“Well Diane, you can’t believe every promise every politician makes,” the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate jokingly responded.

{mosads}“I sincerely apologize,” O’Malley added.  “I am on Military Road right now and [we] are following all of the applicable rules of the road, but we do not control the traffic accidents. I should have left even earlier.”

Rehm wasn’t satisfied with O’Malley’s response.

“Well, I am disappointed because, as you know, it’s a national interview on NPR and I do expect guests to live up to their promises,” she said, adding that O’Malley “absolutely” should have departed sooner for the interview.

O’Malley then began fielding Rehm’s questions on a variety of policy topics before eventually arriving in the Washington, D.C., studio that broadcasts her program.

He answered a number of listener questions, only for Rehm to finish their chat with another jab.

“Finally, Gov. O’Malley, where’s your money going to come from to really compete head-to-head?” she asked the White House hopeful.

“From listeners like you,” he quipped.  “Did that work? Are they calling?”

“I doubt it, I doubt it, I doubt it,” she responded.

O’Malley is struggling for greater visibility in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

He ranks fourth out of the six candidates included in the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls, with 1.8 percent support.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Vice President Biden all poll better than O’Malley in the same spread.

Biden is seriously considering a third Oval Office bid in 2016, and he is expected to make a decision later this month.