During an exclusive live interview with Hillary Clinton on Wednesday’s NBC Today to promote her new book about the 2016 presidential campaign, co-host Matt Lauer was eager to enable her to keep making excuses for her loss to Donald Trump. He urged the failed Democratic nominee to go further than she had in the memoir and say that Trump “stole the election.”
“You say there’s so many coincidences, so many connections between people in the Trump campaign and Russia, but you stopped short of saying this, and I’m asking you if you will,” Lauer began. He then pressed: “Do you think that the Trump campaign, with the knowledge of the now-President, colluded with Russia and stole this election?”
Even Clinton wasn’t prepared to go quite that far, replying: “Matt, I can’t say that. That’s what this investigation is to determine.” Lauer followed up: “Has it led you more in the direction of collusion?”
Perhaps the morning show host was trying to get back on Clinton’s good side after she trashed him in the book, accusing him of an “ambush” interview a couple months before the election. In part two of discussion on Wednesday, Lauer even referenced her criticism: “There is a lot of criticism in this book, and effort of full disclosure, you criticize me pretty soundly in a few pages of this book.”
He then gently wondered: “When it comes to the self-inflicted wounds, when you look at list of them, and you go through them in the book, did you make enough mistakes yourself to lose the election without any of the other things you talk about?” Clinton laughably responded: “Well, I will say no, Matt.”
The biased segment was brought to viewers by Mazda, Dunkin Donuts, and Cheerios.
Here is a transcript of the September 13 exchange:
7:40 AM ET
(...)
MATT LAUER: Another area where you seem to come close to drawing a conclusion but you stop just at the line, is Russia.
HILLARY CLINTON: Right, right.
LAUER: You say there’s so many coincidences, so many connections between people in the Trump campaign and Russia, but you stopped short of saying this, and I’m asking you if you will. Do you think that the Trump campaign, with the knowledge of the now-President, colluded with Russia and stole this election?
CLINTON: Matt, I can’t say that. That’s what this investigation is to determine.
(...)
LAUER: Has it led you more in the direction of collusion?
(...)
