Andrea Mitchell is theoretically an MSNBC journalist and anchor, but on Tuesday she was the president of the Hillary Clinton Fan Club as she gushed over the “star,” her clothes, and the “history and progress” she allegedly represents.
At the top-of-the-show preview, Mitchell oozed, “And Hillary Clinton in a star performance, hoping her loss in 2016 may have paved the way for America to finally accept a woman as president.”
A few minutes later, Mitchell teed up a clip of Clinton’s speech, “Hillary Clinton also handed off the baton after staying largely out of the spotlight since losing her own presidential bid to Donald Trump in 2016. Clinton, dressed in suffragette white, said that Harris is now the one to break that ultimate glass ceiling.”
When it came time to discuss the matter more fully, Mitchell turned to Washington Post senior national political correspondent Ashley Parker, “She talked, not ruefully, but, you know, as a matter of history and progress that she did not break the glass ceiling, but she feels and other women feel and male analysts, that she paved the way, she made it more acceptable for men and women to think of a woman as commander-in-chief.”
As hard as it may be for Mitchell to believe, the history of female leaders is bigger than the United States. Once, a British reporter grilled Clinton about why her book, The Book of Gusty Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience, omitted Margaret Thatcher, who served as a wartime prime minister. Clinton essentially said it was because she was a conservative.
Likewise, nobody on MSNBC would give a Republican, such as Nikki Haley, this kind of hero worship. As Parker demonstrated when she recalled, “Oh, absolutely. And I was on the floor when she came out, and I was struck by so many things. The first is just how much she represents good and bad to so many people. I turned and there was a young man with tears in his eyes, ebullient as she took the stage. And there was a woman, slightly older, middle-aged woman, as she took the stage who said, ‘No, thank you.’ And it, sort of, encapsulated everything she grappled with.”
Parker “was also reminded again of just what a professional she is. I mean, you have to think, it's Hillary Clinton, she is coming out at a convention where she wanted to be. She wanted to break that glass ceiling.”
With even more praise, Parker continued, “I mean, it has to be so bittersweet to appear before this crowd not as the nominee, not as the one poised to do it. She also experienced, I was wondering if it was for the first time, the ‘Lock him up’ chants that she was subject to on the reverse side for so many years. And she was just calm and eloquent and unruffled in a way that I think it would be difficult for any other politician, male or female, to maintain.”
Really? Parker makes it seem like no politician had to face insults or ethical or legal questions before Hillary Clinton ran in 2016. That’s, of course, preposterous, but that is what MSNBC has to do to force the “historic” narrative into the discourse.
Here is a transcript for the August 20 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
8/20/2024
12:00 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Hillary Clinton in a star performance, hoping her loss in 2016 may have paved the way for America to finally accept a woman as president.
…
12:03 PM ET
Hillary Clinton also handed off the baton after staying largely out of the spotlight since losing her own presidential bid to Donald Trump in 2016. Clinton, dressed in suffragette white, said that Harris is now the one to break that ultimate glass ceiling.
…
12:09 PM ET
And she talked, not ruefully, but, you know, as a matter of history and progress that she did not break the glass ceiling, but she feels and other women feel and male analysts, that she paved the way, she made it more acceptable for men and women to think of a woman as commander-in-chief.
ASHLEY PARKER: Oh, absolutely. And I was on the floor when she came out, and I was struck by so many things. The first is just how much she represents good and bad to so many people. I turned and there was a young man with tears in his eyes, ebullient as she took the stage. And there was a woman, slightly older, middle-aged woman, as she took the stage who said, "No, thank you." And it, sort of, encapsulated everything she grappled with.
But I was also reminded again of just what a professional she is. I mean, you have to think, it's Hillary Clinton, she is coming out at a convention where she wanted to be. She wanted to break that glass ceiling. I mean, it has to be so bittersweet to appear before this crowd not as the nominee, not as the one poised to do it. She also experienced, I was wondering if it was for the first time, the "Lock him up" chants that she was subject to on the reverse side for so many years. And she was just calm and eloquent and unruffled in a way that I think it would be difficult for any other politician, male or female, to maintain.
