Former Bill Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos on Thursday conducted a 30 minute town hall with his friend Hillary Clinton. Not once during the Good Morning America discussion did he mention the Democratic candidate’s ongoing e-mail scandal, nor did he note the Benghazi controversy. Of course, there was also no disclaimer on the journalist’s conflict of interest. In 2015, he secretly donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
Stephanopoulos, who once told Hillary Clinton, “I love you,” appeared baffled as to why people would distrust the politician. The town hall featured mostly softball questions, including discussions of Saturday Night Live and hot sauce. But when one voter suggested her brother doesn’t “trust” Clinton, Stephanopoulos couldn’t be bothered to bring up actual trust-related scandals.
Instead, he seemed perplexed, wondering, “What is behind it?”
STEPHANOPOULOS: You said you've been attracting these attacks for a long time. Clearly this comes up a lot. You’ve said you're still trying to figure out why. And you do have a problem going forward with the polls, a majority of Americans say they don't trust you. What is behind it?
CLINTON: George, I don’t know. Other than the fact that for 25 years, you know, when I worked on health care, as you well remember, I was subjected to an enormous wave of attacks and it hasn't stopped.
The GMA co-host mused, “Is there anything more you can do to address it?” Again, this would be a good time to mention Clinton’s disassembling answers on her private server or Benghazi. But, he didn’t.
It’s not like there is a lack of Benghazi news. It was noted earlier, Thursday, before Clinton came on the show, in a news brief:
AMY ROBACH: Well, the CIA is expanding death benefits to families of contractors killed overseas as a result of terrorism. Relatives of a CIA contractor who died in the Benghazi attack in 2012 will be among the first to receive an insurance payout of $400,000.
In contrast, on Monday's town hall with Ted Cruz, co-host Robin Roberts played a video montage of people slamming the conservative Republican.
Stephanopoulos provided no explanation of his conflict of interest relating to the Clinton Foundation donation. He also interviewed the candidate on Sunday’s This Week. There, he offered no disclaimer either.
The anchor last did that on December 7, 2015 with this skimpy reminder: “[A] reminder for everyone watching, I worked for President Clinton, made charitable contributions in the past to the Clinton Foundation.”
A partial transcript of the April 21 GMA segment is here:
8:32am ET
CECILIA VEGA [In a Pennsylvania diner] Well, I'll tell you, George, the food looks really good here, guys. Good morning, Madam Secretary. I'm here with Kim Klayman. She is a 27-year-old business and finance attorney. She is a supporter of yours and she's got a question for you this morning.
KIM KLAYMAN (Philadelphia, PA Clinton Supporter): Good morning, secretary Clinton. I'm a registered Democrat and I support you. However, I have a 20-year-old brother who says that he supports Bernie because he doesn't trust you. What would you say to change his mind?
...
STEPHANOPOULOS: You said you've been attracting these attacks for a long time. Clearly this comes up a lot. You’ve said you're still trying to figure out why. And you do have a problem going forward with the polls, a majority of Americans say they don't trust you. What is behind it?
CLINTON: George, I don’t know. Other than the fact that for 25 years, you know, when I worked on health care, as you well remember, I was subjected to an enormous wave of attacks and it hasn't stopped.
...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Is there anything more you can do to address it?
