The Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) were in their prime Wednesday night, as they once again got the opportunity to hammer President Trump while raising up their former presidential candidate. Two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was publishing a new memoir about her experience during the 2016 election and released audio of herself reading from the section retelling the horrific tale of the second presidential debate. And the Big Three Networks ate it all up.
“Mr. Trump did his best to get under Hillary Clinton's skin during the debates last year,” announced Anchor Anthony Mason during CBS Evening News. “Now, Clinton reveals how successful he was in her new book What happened.”
In the book, Clinton wrote that “this is not okay, I thought. It was the second presidential debate, and Donald Trump was looming behind me.” “Now we were on a small stage and no matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled,” she continued.
CBS reporter Julianna Goldman echoed Clinton’s overly dramatized depiction of the debate. “It was the second presidential debate, and in Hillary Clinton's telling of the story, Donald Trump loomed behind her, breathing down her neck,” she said, parroting Clinton’s dreary tone.
On ABC’ World News Tonight, Anchor David Muir and White House Correspondent Mary Bruce treated the segment like an elementary school read-a-long. “We are turn next tonight here, to the first audio excerpts from Hillary Clinton's new book titled What Happened,” said Muir as he was introducing the report.
Bruce chimed in occasionally to give a little context, but the report was largely just the audio of Clinton reading from the book as the words she said appeared on the screen. “As she now watches his presidency play out on the news, Clinton says she let down millions of Americans,” lamented Bruce.
The ABC White House correspondent touted the moments during the campaign that were special for Clinton:
She also details some of those moments she wants to remember forever. Her young granddaughter racing into the room as she was practicing her convention speech, and what it was like to deliver that speech and become the first woman ever nominated by a major party to be president of the United States.
Meanwhile on NBC Nightly News, Hillary Clinton’s super-fan, Andrea Mitchell took up the call to report on the new book. “The Trump campaign trying to intimidate her. Steve Bannon inviting women accusers from Bill Clinton's past to sit in the front row as Trump circled her on stage,” she bemoaned, acting as though it was a dirty tactic and not a legitimate strategy of rebuttal.
It was clear that that the Big Three Networks held Clinton’s new book in high regard. They made sure to get their shots in on Trump while making it clear to the viewers that Clinton was sorry for letting them down. There was no mistaking the fact that they’re still with her.
Transcript below:
CBS Evening News
August 23, 2017
6:41:00 PM EasternANTHONY MASON: Mr. Trump did his best to get under Hillary Clinton's skin during the debates last year. Now, Clinton reveals how successful he was in her new book What happened? It's published by Simon & Schuster, a division of CBS. A portion of the audio version recorded by Clinton was released today. Here's Julianna Goldman.
[Cuts to video]
HILLARY CLINTON: No matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces.
JULIANNA GOLDMAN: It was the second presidential debate, and in Hillary Clinton's telling of the story, Donald Trump loomed behind her, breathing down her neck. Only two days earlier the campaign was rocked by the release of a tape in which Mr. Trump bragged about sexual assault. Now they were on a small stage together.
CLINTON: My skin crawled. It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching, well? What would you do? Do you stay calm, keep smiling, and carry on, as if he weren't repeatedly invading your space? Or do you turn, look him in the eye, and say loudly and clearly, "Back up, you creep. Get away from me."
GOLDMAN: Clinton has second thoughts about not choosing option B.
(…)
GOLDMAN: Clinton has kept a relatively low profile since last November, and in another excerpt she wrote about the disappointment of what she called her painful loss.
CLINTON: I knew that millions of people were counting on me, and I couldn't bare the idea of letting them down, but I did. I couldn't get the job done.
(…)
ABC
World News Tonight
August 23, 2017
6:41:24 PM EasternDAVID MUIR: We are turn next tonight here, to the first audio excerpts from Hillary Clinton's new book titled What Happened? Clinton says she let millions of Americans down, and she also writes about that October debate when then-candidate Donald Trump appeared to hover behind her. Clinton writes about the choice she says she had to make in that moment. Here tonight, ABC's Mary Bruce.
[Cuts to video]
MARY BRUCE: In her new book, Hillary Clinton offers a candid view of what it was like to run against Donald Trump.
HILLARY CLINTON: Writing this wasn't easy.
BRUCE: As she now watches his presidency play out on the news, Clinton says she let down millions of Americans.
(…)
BRUCE: Clinton questioned that second debate when Trump hovered behind her.
CLINTON: This is not okay, I thought. It was the second presidential debate, and Donald Trump was looming behind me. Two days before, the world heard him brag about groping women. Now we were on a small stage and no matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled.
BRUCE: She writes she had a choice.
(…)
BRUCE: She chose to say nothing, and now wondering if that was the right choice.
(…)
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: And Mary Bruce with us live tonight from Washington, and Mary, Hillary Clinton will reveal a lot about the unexpected moments along the way, but she also reveals some of the high notes of her campaign?
BRUCE: She also details some of those moments she wants to remember forever. Her young granddaughter racing into the room as she was practicing her convention speech, and what it was like to deliver that speech and become the first woman ever nominated by a major party to be president of the United States.
