'Fox and Friends' Again Puffs Hillary Clinton -- As 'Rocky'

Photo of Justin McCarthy.
  • Bookmark and Share

Is this the network all of the Democrats were afraid of just months ago? Glowing from her victory in Pennsylvania, Senator Hillary Clinton braved the April 23 edition of FNC’s "Fox and Friends" to face a barrage of...softball questions. This is not new for the Fox News morning show as they've already given Senator Clinton two other easy interviews.

Co-host Gretchen Carlson started the segment asking "May I call you ‘Rocky’ this morning, Senator?" Carlson and fellow co-host Steve Doocy allowed Clinton to answer any way she pleases and did not interrupt the New York senator. At one point, it appeared as if Doocy was setting up a tough question, recounting some of the many Clinton scandals, but gave Clinton a tee-ball, opining "I thought Barack Obama wasn’t going to run that kind of a campaign." [audio available here]

Story Continues Below Ad ↓

Gretchen Carlson concluded the segment noting that Clinton’s top supporter in Pennsylvania, Governor Ed Rendell, as well as her campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe praised Fox News for its coverage of the presidential race. With these types of interviews, who can blame them?

The entire transcript is below.

STEVE DOOCY: Alright, she won the Pennsylvania primary yesterday by that magic ten points in the vote in the primary there you can see.

GRETCHEN CARLSON: And presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is live with us from Washington, DC this morning. Good morning to you Senator.

SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY): Good morning Gretchen. Good morning Steve.

DOOCY: Good morning to you. Senator was it a, was it a Crown Royal night last night at the Clinton place?

CLINTON: [laughing] Well, there wasn’t that kind of celebrating going on because I knew I had to get up so early to come talk to you. [laughing]

DOOCY: Alright.

CARLSON: May I call you "Rocky" this morning Senator? Because-

CLINTON: You sure can.

CARLSON: Alright because you made it apparent that you were in a fight just like Rocky was, fitting in the state of Pennsylvania. And you pulled out all of the stops Senator.

CLINTON: Well, it was a great victory because we had record turnouts. People were obviously excited across Pennsylvania to come out and help pick a president and I was thrilled at the outcome. I think it says a lot about, you know, how engaged and inspired voters are to make sure that we fix what’s going wrong in our country and I’m just so grateful to have had such an overwhelming victory.

DOOCY: Your husband, Bill Clinton, said a couple of days ago that if the Democrats had the same set up as the Republicans, with the primary, because the Democrats have that superdelegate thing, and boy that’s working out well, you would be way ahead. At the end of this election cycle, should the Democrats take a look at it and just say "this thing didn’t work right"?

CLINTON: Well, it is interesting because if we had the same system as the Republicans, I’d already be the nominee and if the Republicans had our system, they’d still be duking it out among Senator McCain and Governors Huckabee and Romney apparently. So I think we will take a look at it. But I’m thrilled by the outcome last night. And you know, since my victory we’ve had thousands of people flocking to my website, HillaryClinton.com, we’ve raised over $3 million. There is so much energy behind my campaign, and a great deal of commitment because people really want me to continue and to go on to these next states because they think I’d be the best president and a lot of Democrats think as we saw in Pennsylvania yesterday that I would be the stronger candidate against Senator McCain, so I’m on to Indiana right after I finish talking to you.

CARLSON: Right and then it’s to North Carolina as well. And I need to ask you Senator, will you push now for another debate with Barack Obama? Because it was supposed to happen on CBS before North Carolina and then it was cancelled. By most accounts, you beat him in the last debate. Will you push for another one now?

CLINTON: Well, I think it’s a shame that Senator Obama will not agree to debates in Indiana and North Carolina. I’ve accepted any and all debates in both states because, you know, most people really want to see us. We’ve only had four debates between the two of us. And now it is down to the two of us. So I think that voters are right to want to have a debate in North Carolina. In fact, 20,000 North Carolinians e-mailed in for tickets when they thought there would be a debate until it was clear Senator Obama would not participate. So I’m still hopeful because I think it’s a shame that apparently he’s unwilling or afraid to debate me when there’s so much at stake and these two states deserve to have a debate.

DOOCY: There’s an item in "The Washington Post" this morning, Senator, that says that according to some of the Barack Obama aides, apparently in the runup to Indiana, which is the next big contest where by the way you are currently leading in the polls, it says that what they’re going to do is they’re going to start reminding people of some of the controversies during Bill Clinton’s White House years, perhaps impeachment, perhaps Whitewater, perhaps cattle trading futures. I thought Barack Obama wasn’t going to run that kind of campaign.

CLINTON: Well, you know, he’ll have to decide what kind of campaign he’ll run, but I think I’m working very hard at Indiana. I’m not ahead by any really objective standard. I’m working hard. You know, Senator Obama has a huge advantage. 25 percent of the vote is in the Chicago media market. He hasn’t lost a state that borders on Illinois. So I have my work cut out for me. But I’m going to run the same kind of campaign and I think it’s the campaign that voters want to see. It’s what we certainly did in Pennsylvania. We’re going to keep talking about the positive solutions for America. We’re going to draw the contrasts and comparisons which I think is absolutely what we need to do in a campaign. But what we saw yesterday is people who really feel strongly. They want a president who they think from day one can be the commander in chief and can be the president to turn this economy around. And that’s what I’m going to offer in Indiana and North Carolina and work as hard as I can there because, you know, a lot’s riding on the outcome of this nominating process.

CARLSON: And a lot is riding, Senator, by some people on the good of the party, at least on the Democratic side. A lot of people said "hey, Hillary Clinton should just drop out for the good of the party." You know, you seem to be in somewhat of a dicey situation with Barack Obama. Because on the one hand, you have to prove now that he could not win in the general election. And on the other hand, if he ends up being the nominee, you would want him to win, right?

CLINTON: Well, you know, I have said publicly of course he can win. I think I will win. I think that’s one of the reasons that I’m a stronger candidate because of the coalition that I put together as we saw again yesterday in Pennsylvania with, you know, all kinds of folks from across the state lining up to vote for me. But really this comes down to who we’re going to pick as our nominee and then we will have a unified party. I am 110 or 20 or 30 percent committed to doing everything I can to make sure that we win in November. And there isn’t any doubt that voters who voted for me or voted for Senator Obama have to know that whatever the differences are between us, they pale in comparison to the differences between us and Senator McCain and the Republicans. So we’re going to have a united party, but this campaign across Pennsylvania gave voters in a big must win state for Democrats, a clear look at both of us, side by side, six weeks criss crossing the state by, you know, by plane, by bus, by train, by car, by every mode of transportation. And the voters decided that they preferred me by a double digit win and I think that’s a very strong signal as to who those voters believe is the stronger candidate.

DOOCY: Alright, so the CBS debate right now, not going to happen. At the ABC debate, which Barack Obama took about 45 minutes worth of hard questions, you know, something that he was, had not gotten before, some left leaning columnists had said, "well, you know, those were trivial questions." But they had to do with stuff that people were interested in, judgment and stuff like that. And when you got hammered at previous debates, nobody ever came to your defense. Mrs. Clinton, there seems to be, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, newsflash, the mainstream media seems to love that guy. What do you do about that?

CLINTON: Well, I just get up every morning and keep going on because I’ve taken I think quite a few tough questions over the last months and years, really going back, I guess, 16 years. That comes with the territory. We are competing for the toughest job in the world. And I’ll tell you, tough questions from moderators in debates are nothing compared to the tough decisions that you have to make in the White House. So I think that, as I’ve said, "if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." This is part of our process. It’s the toughest process to pick the person for the toughest job. And, you know, I’ve put up with it, I’ve tried to answer the questions. Sometime I’m successful, sometimes not so much. But everyday I keep going on and fighting because I think America’s worth fighting for and that’s what I’m going to do in Indiana today and in North Carolina tomorrow.

CARLSON: Well, Senator, keep coming on "Fox and Friends" because your own campaign, your tireless campaigner in Pennsylvania, Governor Ed Rendell, has said that we have had the most fair and balanced discussion of politics so far and as well as Terry McAuliffe last night. And we called the race 20 minutes before anyone else did. So continue to be our guest on "Fox and Friends."

CLINTON: Thank you and please everybody, even on Fox, go to HillaryClinton.com and help me out in this campaign so we can keep going.


Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Well isn't this

Well isn't this just precious....

Ya'all come back now ya' hear Hillary!

Pretty please with sugar on top.

After what the dems, most likely with her leading the way on boycotting Fox and the debates I would never beg, but heck this is business I guess...so be it.

....whatever floats your boat I guess. 

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

This is the "balance" for

This is the "balance" for Brett Baier.

→ Keep it up FOX

I see no problem with this.

I did my part to give Hillary a false sense of security at the Texas Primary.  Murdoch's companies are doing the same.

♣ a seal

What a sham

CLINTON CAN NOT CLOSE THE DEAL!!!

The lead was not 10% but 8.5%...

why can't Hillary close the deal???

Wed Apr 23, 2008
She is the ex-President's wife.

She started out with all the cards on her side.

She had the most delegates.
The most money.
The most votes.
She had the AA community.
The Hispanic Community.
The men's vote.
The women's vote
all the other votes

Yet she is behind in pledged dels, popular vote, money and popular vote.

Why can't this famous and well-connected woman close the vote to a young, black, rookie?

:

I am sick and tired and tired and sick of all those people who ask this question of Barack Obama: Why can't Obama close the deal?
I strongly take offense at this question.

For a rookie who is clothed in black skin he has done pretty darn well don't ya think?

Coming from behind he has bested the best. H

He has taken out experienced candidates like Biden, Edwards, Richardson and others.

He has raised more money and put together the most effective campaign in decades.

He has created a movement and a fundraising that is growing by the minute.

He has followed the rules and competed in all the states without disrespecting those that are too large or too small.

He has cut into all demographics and remained above the fray as best he can while being attacked from the Clintons, the republican 'vast right wing conspiracy', McCain and his machine, the media machine and Hillary supporters.

He keeps adding superdels at a steady stream.

He has overcome, wrightgate, naftagate, bittergate and all hypothetical gates to come.

He held Hillary back on her heels in Pa causing her to go into the red financially and win in only single digits in a state that was tailor made for her.

He has been cast as uppity, elite, effette, liberal, too black, not-too-black.

He has been linked by handcuffs to Jesse Jackson, Farakkan.

He has been called naive, weak, a communist, a marxist, a socialist.

Yet Obama stands tall and strong. Hillary wallows in the mud and is sinking slowly.

Yes, she wins to fight another day but she is no longer electable even though she took the low road to get there.

Her negatives are high and she has revealed herself to be a neocon hawk.

Her husband's legacy is in question and people are wondering about the psychological well-being of her daughter Chelsea after she enabled the Bosnia sniper-fire lie.

Many who loved Hillary now hate her and most of the country would rather see her gone.

So I ask my question again.

Why can't Hillary close the deal?

She had it all and she lost it and she stands to lose more in the coming weeks if she continues her, china-kitchensink-buffet throwing strategy.

She cannot win because she is not authentic. She does what she has to do to win the contest in front of her without looking at the entire landscape. She is a selfish babyboomer who wants what she wants regardless of the consequences.

She has always dreamt of being President and she will get there and damn anyone or anything that gets in her way.

However, she did not bank on Barack Obama the guy with the funny name and the big ears and black skin.

She cannot close the deal because she is flawed and inadequate as a candidate and this is now clear to all the world.

Hillary will eventually have to come to terms with this.

Wish I could be a fly on the wall...

Hey docb.... Are you

Hey docb....

Are you rooting for Obama by any chance?

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

Fox has supported Clinton

Fox has supported Clinton against Obama on a regular basis. Quite frankly there is little or no difference between them in policy terms. Both are Socialists. Strong believers in high tax rates. There is an assumption amongst Fox presenters that Clinton is  less left leaning. Perhaps they might ponder the following:

As reported by the Associated Press, Sen. Clinton said, "Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

Latest "New Kind of

Latest "New Kind of Politics" Update:

Obama's Gloves Are Off

 

LOL mb.... Somebody might

LOL mb....

Somebody might want to tell the O man he has to quit whining first....

Maybe the leftists at WaPo will do that on down the road.

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

But, bt....that's going to

But, bt....that's going to be his excuse for going negative; for dumping the "new kind of politics" and getting down in the mud....

If Obama's image was coarsened in Pennsylvania, the next round of primaries may do it even more damage. But Obama advisers say the campaign is in a far different place than it was last fall. The senator from Illinois is much better known nationally, with an image that will not be easily recast -- either by his opponents or his own tactics.

He is subtley saying that last fall Obama had to cast himself as Mr. Nice because he was unknown. Now that he has that image, he can turn dirty and it will be hard for people to see him that way ... he even says Obama's own tactics won't damage him, because he's built up that "new politics" image!

So which one was or is the real Obama? The nice guy of last fall, or this new, more aggressive Obama of now? Isn't this just another politician, making excuses for not living up to his own standards? In short, a hypocrite?

Does this sound like a "new kind of politics" or the same old, same old?

 

Same ol' same ol' hypocrite

Same ol' same ol' hypocrite critter mb.

Waiting for the bloom to fall off the rose....but heck, it's just now happening for the Clintoon Brigade, so it will take quite awhile yet before this sweet nothing empty suit evaporates nationally too.

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

Didn't the black guy, Obama

Didn't the black guy, Obama Creed, beat Rocky?

Vote 4 change. Vote 4 anything. See Jack & Mr Shy's first campaign ad for the ONLY viable 3rd party candidate.

Yes, but unlike Obama Creed,

Yes, but unlike Obama Creed, Apollo Creed was willing to wear Stars and Stripes...

Niiiiiiiiice pick up Chrisy

Niiiiiiiiice pick up Chrisy Knock-out.

You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!

Vote 4 change. Vote 4 anything. See Jack & Mr Shy's first campaign ad for the ONLY viable 3rd party candidate.

Yikes. Then, I'd better take

Yikes. Then, I'd better take some Pepto-Bismol post haste.

Even though I don't

Even though I don't particularly like F&F or it's hosts (I find the Doocey and Kilmeade just too silly), I'm still gonna give them a pass on this. I don't think any of them are liberal. I even find myself cheering Hillary on - as part of Operation Chaos (to put it briefly) - and the fact that Hillary is the "devil we know" as opposed to Obama. If you put a gun to my head and made me choose one of them - I'd have to - forgive me - pick Hillary - and then -take the gun from you - and shoot myself.

Hey Chris...now that is

Hey Chris...now that is funny as we were talking about that exact thing last night....I never thought I'd see the day I would be cheering on Hillary....

Here I thought this was going to be the most exciting election in my life-time, now it is the most fun given what we have to work with...and watching the dem party eat each other up alive, slowly...it just doesn't get any better.

Operation Chaos indeed!

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill

I never thought the Dem

I never thought the Dem primaries would unfold like this, BT. As someone who used to turn a deaf ear for all things Democrat, I've got to admit, I'm sort of interested in their demolition derby. Just don't make me listen to their stump speeches or their debates - please. :)

Chris... Shoot them, not

Chris...

Shoot them, not yourself! 

"Abstain from McCain"

Doh!

Doh!

As Marge Simpson says:

As Marge Simpson says: Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out!!

Are they beginning to wimp out?

THIS was Fox News? FNC's morning show is beginning to sound like a bunch of wooses.

Geez, oh man, Shmillary must have loved this interview!

Gretchen is a foxy lady - no pun intended - but she and Dooc have got to get their journalistic mojo back!  Reading this interview was like trying to digest a pound of sugar on an empty stomach.

"How can you be in two places at once when you not anywhere at all?" - Firesign Theater

Fox & Friends is playing Rush's game

But of course Fox & Friends has become safe ground for Hillary. Per Rush and many other Republican backers, Hillary is the weaker of the two candidates so she needs a boost. Republicans should run off to the primaries to vote for Hillary. Fox News should depart its liberal-bashing ways to give her a boost.

My only surprise is why Newsbusters doesn't seem to get it. Didn't you guys get the RNC memo? I thought you were tight.

---------

www.eyesonfox.org

Willy's new nickname

Yes, you can call me Rocky. And you can call my husband Bullwinkle.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw, 1944