ABC and CBS on Sunday night and Monday morning skipped the fact that Barack Obama chided Hillary Clinton as “careless” for the way she handled her private e-mail server. Only NBC reporters noticed the development and the network mentioned it only in passing. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the President told Chris Wallace: “There’s a carelessness, in terms of managing e-mails, that she [Clinton] has owned, and she recognizes.”
On NBC’s Today, reporter Kristen Welker briefly noted the remark, allowing, “Over the weekend, President Obama called the move careless, but also defended Clinton.” Then, instead of playing a clip of the “careless” quote, she showcased this more helpful moment from Obama: “I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America's national security.”
Later on the show, Willie Geist touched on Obama weighing in, but he also focused on less important part, saying, “Secretary Clinton, saying he said he doesn't think she affected national security.” Panelist Nicolle Wallace agreed: She broadly referenced the “careless” remark, but quickly pivoted: “I couldn't imagine anyone on the White House staff wanted him [Obama] to say that....That said, I think the political side of this is that he has her back, and it's powerful.”
On the NBC Nightly News, Sunday, Kelly O’Donnell only noted that the issue of the private e-mail server “resurfaced in a new interview.” Of course, the only clip she allowed was this one: “Hillary Clinton was an outstanding Secretary of State. She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy.”
Still, NBC journalists at least broached the President of the United States calling the likely Democratic nominee “careless.” ABC’s World News Tonight on Sunday and Good Morning America on Monday didn’t bother. However, the superficial show did devote four minutes to “making curly hair work for you.”
CBS This Morning co-hosts also ignored Obama’s comments. (There was no CBS Evening News on Sunday.)
One reason the remarks should be even more interesting is the questionable way in which Obama minimized the significance of Clinton’s private server:
BARACK OBAMA: There's classified, and then there's classified. There's stuff that is really top secret top secret, and there's stuff that is being presented to the president or the Secretary of State, that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open source.
In contrast to NBC reporters talking around the quote, CNN journalists actually played it:
ATHENA JONES: The President defended Hillary Clinton on this e-mail issue. He also seemed to downplay the issue as a whole. He said that even though she may have been careless, he doesn't believe that she put national security at risk when it comes to the management of those e-mails. Take a listen to what he had to say.
BARACK OBAMA: I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America's national security. Now, what I've also said is that — and she's acknowledged — that there's — there's a carelessness in terms of managing e-mails that she has owned, and she recognizes.
A transcript of Obama’s comments on Fox News can be found below:
Fox News Sunday
4/10/16WALLACE: We’ve learned that over 2,000 of her e-mails contained classified material, 22 of the e-mails had top-secret information. Can you still say flatly that she did not jeopardize America’s secrets?
OBAMA: I’ve got to be careful because, as you know, there have been investigations, there are hearings, Congress is looking at this. And I haven’t been sorting through each and every aspect of this. Here’s what I know: Hillary Clinton was an outstanding Secretary of State. She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy. And what I also know, because I handle a lot of classified information, is that there are — there’s classified, and then there’s classified. There’s stuff that is really top secret top secret, and there’s stuff that is being presented to the president or the Secretary of State, that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open source.
WALLACE: But last October, you were prepared to say, "She hadn’t jeopardized." And the question is, can you still say that?
OBAMA: I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America’s national security. Now what I’ve also said is that --- and she has acknowledged — that there’s a carelessness, in terms of managing e-mails, that she has owned, and she recognizes. But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective. This is somebody who has served her country for four years as secretary of state, and did an outstanding job. And no one has suggested that in some ways, as a consequence of how she’s handled e-mails, that that detracted from her excellent ability to carry out her duties.
