On Monday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC, responding to Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul invoking former President Bill Clinton's behavior toward women, MSNBC contributor Joy Reid ridiculously asserted that linking Hillary Clinton to her husband's behavior "might be the definition of the war on woman, war on women to reduce Hillary Clinton to the wife of the cheating ex-President."
After host Lawrence O'Donnell played the clip of Senator Paul from NBC's Meet the Press, Reid began:
I think it's amazing. I think it might be the definition of the war on woman, on women to reduce Hillary Clinton to the wife of the cheating ex-President, right? And I think to try to make her answer for Bill Clinton, it negates all her separate accomplishments, all of which, by the way, are fair game in a presidential election.
Without naming any specific accomplishments other than job titles, she then tried to bolster former Secretary of State Clinton's credentials:
This woman, in addition to being the First Lady during the whole impeachment and Monica Lewinsky gate thing has also been a United States Senator in her own right. In the clips you just played, as you've shown, she's been our Secretary of State.
She's held really substantial positions and done really important and substantial things, whether you agree with them or not. Litigate that. I think it's the cheapest of cheap shots to try to go after Bill Clinton, but the purpose of it obviously is to try to dissuade Hillary Clinton from using the war on woman, women language against whoever her opponent is going to be.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Monday, January 27, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC:
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL: Senator Rand Paul showed this weekend that Republicans will not limit their attacks on presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to how she handled the incident in Benghazi.
[CLIP OF SENATOR RAND PAUL BRINGING UP THE BILL CLINTON AFFAIR WITH MONICA LEWINSKY]
O'DONNELL: Joy, Bill Clinton is back, but not in the way he wants to be back.
JOY REID, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: No. I mean, I think it's amazing. I think it might be the definition of the war on woman, on women to reduce Hillary Clinton to the wife of the cheating ex-President, right? And I think to try to make her answer for Bill Clinton, it negates all her separate accomplishments, all of which, by the way, are fair game in a presidential election.
This woman, in addition to being the First Lady during the whole impeachment and Monica Lewinsky gate thing has also been a United States Senator in her own right. In the clips you just played, as you've shown, she's been our Secretary of State.
She's held really substantial positions and done really important and substantial things, whether you agree with them or not. Litigate that. I think it's the cheapest of cheap shots to try to go after Bill Clinton, but the purpose of it obviously is to try to dissuade Hillary Clinton from using the war on woman, women language against whoever her opponent is going to be.
--Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Brad Wilmouth on Twitter.
