At the top of the 9 a.m. ET hour on Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Natalie Morales seized on Chelsea Clinton answering a question she "gets asked all the time, just about every other day": "In a new interview she is saying she is now perhaps is opening that window that she may possibly think about running for public office." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
After Morales touted Clinton's comments to Fast Company magazine on the subject, fellow co-host Willie Geist proclaimed: "She is a very, very impressive woman." Morales agreed: "She is." Geist continued: "And she'll do whatever she wants to do in life."
Morales sympathetically observed: "There's gotta be a lot of pressure, though, I would imagine, you know, with that sort of legacy that for, you know, children of political figures." Co-host Tamron Hall chimed in: "She's lived such a wonderful life and a responsible life, giving to others. I bet that she's gotten used to the pressure."
Morales gushed: "I think she really wants to help and give back. And I think that's what she wants to do." Hall declared: "Yeah, and it's proof in her actions that's what she's doing."
Geist wondered if she would stay away from elected office: "You also have to think watching her father and her mother go through the process of running for president and being president, that might be something you say, 'You know what? I'll leave that to my parents.'" Hall remarked: "They did a great job at it."
Here is a full transcript of the April 17 segment:
9:05 AM ET
NATALIE MORALES: Switching gears here. Okay, interesting question, I mean, a question that Chelsea Clinton gets asked all the time, just about every other day. She's 34 years old. In a new interview, though, she is saying she now perhaps is opening that window that she may possibly think about running for public office.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Family Politics; Will Chelsea Clinton Ever Run for Office?]
She told Fast Company magazine she currently supports her elected representatives in her home city and state of New York but said if at some point that weren't the case, well then she said, quote, "Maybe then I'd have to ask and answer the question for myself and come to a different answer." So I mean, I think recently she's been saying – she'd kind of closed that door a little bit, but now it sounds perhaps she is sticking her foot in it just slightly.
WILLIE GEIST: I think if you're asked that question as much as she is...
MORALES: Over and over again.
GEIST: ...one of the answers, you say, "I don't know, maybe I will." And everyone says, "Oh, she's gonna run for office."
MORALES: She's very busy right now. She's helping with the Clinton Global Initiative, of course. So she's been very involved in that. And I guess besides the question of "When are you going to have kids?," which is the one that she gets asked every day...
GEIST: By her parents.
MORALES: ...this is the other one.
[LAUGHTER]
GEIST: She is a very, very impressive woman.
TAMRON HALL: Yes.
MORALES: She is.
GEIST: And she'll do whatever she wants to do in life.
MORALES: There's gotta be a lot of pressure, though, I would imagine, you know, with that sort of legacy that for, you know, children of political figures. You know, that's the question they always get asked.
HALL: Well now, she's what? 32 now?
MORALES: 34.
HALL: 34 now. She's lived such a wonderful life and a responsible life, giving to others. I bet that she's gotten used to the pressure. But to Willie's point, you've been asked this question a million times, eventually you're like, "Okay, maybe. Just leave me alone. Fine, maybe." You know, goodness.
MORALES: But I think she really wants to help and give back. And I think that's what she wants to do.
HALL: Yeah, and it's proof in her actions that's what she's doing. Yeah.
GEIST: You also have to think watching her father and her mother go through the process of running for president and being president, that might be something you say, "You know what? I'll leave that to my parents."
HALL: They did a great job at it.
GEIST: Yeah, leave it right there.
