WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- White House communications director Anita Dunn fired back at criticism from TV commentator Glenn Beck on Friday , saying that a Mao Tse-tung quote Beck took issue with was picked up from legendary GOP strategist Lee Atwater . White House communications director Anita Dunn she picked up Mao Tse-tung from a legendary Republican . `` The Mao quote is one I picked up from the late Republican strategist Lee Atwater from something I read in the late 1980s , so I hope I do n't get my progressive friends mad at me , '' Dunn told CNN . As for Beck 's criticism : `` The use of the phrase 'favorite political philosophers ' was intended as irony , but clearly the effort fell flat -- at least with a certain Fox commentator whose sense of irony may be missing . '' On Thursday night 's program , Beck showed exclusive video of Dunn discussing the communist leader , who was responsible for a cultural revolution in 1966 that included re-education camps and setting the army and students on witch hunts against his opponents . Millions of Chinese suffered or died , most notably teachers , writers , political opponents or anyone deemed a `` reactionary . '' Dunn , taped in a speech in what appears to be a church , said the leader 's philosophies were a guidepost for her own strategy on politics . She also praised the philosophy used by religious icon Mother Teresa . `` The third lesson and tip actually comes from two of my favorite political philosophers : Mao Tse-tung and Mother Theresa -- not often coupled with each other , but the two people I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point which is 'you 're going to make choices ; you 're going to challenge ; you 're going to say why not ; you 're going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before . '' The comments set Beck into a tirade . `` It 's insanity . This is her hero 's work , '' he said . `` She thinks of this man 's work all the time ? `` It would be like me saying to you , 'you know who my favorite political philosopher is ? Adolf Hitler . ' Have you read Mein Kampf ? [ She wants to ] fight your fight like Hitler did , '' Beck said . Dunn recently blasted Fox News saying that the cable news organization often operates as either `` the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party . '' `` When he [ Obama ] goes on Fox , he understands that he 's not really going on it as a news network at this point . He 's going to debate the opposition . And that 's fine . He never minds doing that . `` They 're widely viewed as a part of the Republican Party . Take [ the GOP 's ] talking points , put them on the air , take [ the GOP 's ] opposition research , put them on the air , '' Dunn said . Fox News in a statement to CNN said its programming was comparable to the editorial page of a newspaper . Still , Beck wasted no time Thursday in using Dunn 's comments to blast the Obama administration for promoting what he deems a radical agenda . `` America , how many radicals is it going to take ? How many radicals surrounding our president before you understand that when the president said he wants to transform the country , he wants to transform it all right , '' Beck said . Dunn pointed out that during his presidential campaign and since being elected President Obama has been interviewed by Fox News and will be again in the future . Watch more of Dunn 's comments » . `` He 'll go on Fox because he engages with ideological opponents , '' Dunn said . `` He has done that before , and he 'll do it again . '' But it 's not just Dunn , a Democrat , who has used Mao as someone she reads . Media Matters for America , a liberal media watchdog group , points out that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich , also a Fox News contributor , quoted Mao in a 1995 Roll Call profile . `` War is politics with blood ; politics is war without blood , '' Gingrich said , citing Mao . Karl Rove , another Fox News contributor , wrote in a December 2008 Wall Street Journal op-ed that President Bush `` encouraged me to read a Mao biography . '' Beck led the charge against Obama 's former green jobs czar Van Jones over a petition Jones signed in 2004 calling for an investigation into whether government officials deliberately allowed the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks to occur . Jones said of the petition on the Web site 911truth.org : `` I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever . '' Jones has also come under fire for comments he made , also before his White House job , including those in a video on YouTube . In it , he uses a vulgar expression to describe Republicans . Jones resigned from his post in September , saying in a statement that he came to Washington to `` fight for others , not for myself . '' `` I can not in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past . We need all hands on deck , fighting for the future , '' Jones ' statement said . Jones is a co-founder of colorofchange.org , a group that recently has been pressing advertisers to boycott Beck 's program after Beck called Obama a racist . CNN 's Martina Stewart contributed to this report .
Dunn says she heard Mao quote from Republican strategist Lee Atwater . Fox News ' Glenn Beck showed video of Dunn quoting Mao . Beck : ` ` It 's Mao . This is her father 's quote '' Other Republicans have quoted Mao in the past .