MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski gushed over Hillary Clinton on Tuesday's Morning Joe, and lamented how her campaign staff and the press are distracting her from showing her true self: "My gut is Hillary Clinton needs to be Hillary Clinton — the one that you meet one on one....She's going to have to just be herself — because herself has always been the best thing for her." Brzezinski later contended that "if she gets everybody out of her own way and just, kind of, speaks from the heart, I bet you it would be incredibly moving." [video below]
The host turned to regulars Mike Barnicle, Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, and Willie Geist for their takes on Donald Trump's accusation that Mrs. Clinton acted as an "enabler" for her husband's sexual affairs. Brzezinski underlined that the billionaire is "definitely aggressive and ferocious; and how she responds to that, I think, could make him look strong, or look terrible." She continued with her "gut" response, and criticized a recent campaign even where "everybody around her were...positioned and set up — almost human shields from the attacks coming to her, instead of the issues she was talking about."
Several minutes later, the Morning Joe anchor played a clip of the Democrat having an exchange with one of the reporters at the campaign event. She touted the "very, very uncomfortable situation she's being put in," and wondered why her campaign was still doing these "set-up events" — adding, "I think I have an aversion to them that's stronger than others." Barnicle joined Brzezinski in lamenting that Bill Clinton's sordid sexual past was an issue again:
MIKE BARNICLE: What does it say about us, the media, that we're asking Hillary Clinton about, literally, something that occurred 25 years ago; and has been resolved, at least legally, and I think resolved — I don't know anybody who's concerned that that's one of the top five issues — what Bill Clinton did 25 years ago. I really don't. Maybe, I'm living in a different universe.
Geist replied by asserting that "in the case of the Bill Clinton indiscretions and the affairs and all the kind of stuff, I think that's probably her [Mrs. Clinton's] best policy — is just to ignore it and trust that the voters aren't interested in it." Barnicle interjected by hyping that "we have a political party in opposition to Hillary Clinton — the Republican Party — of which a large percentage of that party seems focused on who has the right to go to what bathroom. I mean, what is going on here?"
Heilemann echoed Barnicle's take: "The history of this has been that people found Hillary Clinton a very sympathetic figure over President Clinton's indiscretions...People looked at her as having been a survivor and having been supportive of her husband — having come through with her own identity — and they made her senator from New York. It worked to her advantage politically then."
Brzezinski then continued her lament about Mrs. Clinton's supposed plight regarding the issue of her husband's sexual past, with more sympathy for the presidential candidate from Geist and Barnicle:
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: ...I can't even imagine what it would be like to be in a situation like that, but I just find that when something's really, really being thrown at you, the best thing is to be honest and vulnerable and real. And I think, usually, the person throwing the mud ends up looking really bad.
So, I don't know if it's fair game. I think, in some ways, I guess, it is. But I think she has to, sort of, find her own voice with that. She really does. And I bet you if she — if she gets everybody out of her own way and just, kind of, speaks from the heart, I bet you it would be incredibly moving; and I bet you we all would have nothing to say at all. But we'll see.
WILLIE GEIST: I agree with you. A little authenticity there — which is saying, you know what? That was the worst time of my life and it played out in public—
BARNICLE: Yeah!
BRZEZINSKI: Did my best—
GEIST: And boy, that was terrible.
BRZEZINSKI: And it really hurts to have — I can't imagine how bad somebody would look trying to throw that kind of thing at someone, when— you know, family issues are so deeply personal and so convoluted and so unbelievably not anybody's business.
(...)
BRZEZINSKI: And also, just as, sort of, a working woman, I will just say, when you think about those years and you think what she's done beyond those years — senator from New York, secretary of state, candidate for president, to say the least — you know, people ultimately want someone who's capable; and absolutely nothing threw her off — not even the deepest heartbreak of her life. She could use this. She could use this to her benefit in a very real and vulnerable way without even — just, deal with it. It's not that big a deal — be — be there for yourself.
BARNICLE: Who could — who could not — to your point, who could not identify with Hillary Clinton?
BRZEZINSKI: With heartbreak and family tragedy—
BARNICLE: And talking about what it's like to walk wounded and humiliated through the — through a crowd called the nation.
BRZEZINSKI: And then, go on and raise a child and serve and become a grandparent and run for president. I mean, this is — this can be done. I just don't think it can be handled by a campaign. They'll think too much. You just got to speak from the heart.
