The portion of former interim Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile’s book exposing ethically questionable behavior by the Clinton campaign surprisingly got a lot of play on the network Sunday morning shows. But during NBC’s Meet the Press, former anchor Tom Brokaw was not pleased with Brazile for shedding light on how the Clinton campaign bought the DNC and added it to their campaign arsenal. And towards the end of the program, he criticized her for doing so.
As the program was coming back from a commercial, Todd looked to veteran reporter Eugene Robinson and jokingly wondered, “What did the Clintons do to her? … I don't know what other way to ask this question.”
“No, it's a good question. She just said this morning on another network, you know, anybody that didn't like her telling her story can go to hell,” Robinson explained, quoting her appearance on ABC’s This Week from earlier in the day. “So, she's determined to tell her story and I too think there must have been some interaction between her and the Clinton campaign, between her and Clinton, some interaction that left a very sour taste in her mouth.”
Brokaw chimed in as he set his sights on Brazile. “Well, I think this is a manifestation of all that is wrong with the Democratic Party, frankly,” he chided. “I mean, this is a time they ought to be talking about the future and they ought to be organizing themselves about what they want to do with the country.”
He dismissed Clinton’s shady dealings with the DNC as something that people didn’t need to worry about anymore because the 2016 election was in the past. “Donna is well-known, as you all know, for kind of ready, fire, aim on a lot of the stuff she does,” he sneered, to Todd and one other panelist’s laughter. “But to go back over this now when they're trying to win congressional races and trying to get ready for '18 seems to me to be beyond counter-productive.” Todd then shifted the conversation to the gubernatorial race in Virginia.
But NBC White House Correspondent Kasie Hunt brought it back around when she connected the Virginia race with Clinton’s, arguing that if the Democratic candidate lost it would be because of the same reasons Clinton lost as well. She added:
Look, this DNC controversy, I’m sitting there and watching it. Every Democrat I ask about it tries to ignore questions about it. They pretend they're not even seeing it. They have their heads in the sand about the state of their own liberal base and they can watch the Republicans self-emulate and so they're ignoring their own problems. It's going to come back to bite them.
“But that’s exactly it. So, I can make this counterargument about the Brazile book and the allegations, which is that this was going on beneath the surface,” Robinson responded. “Whether or not, you know, it wasn't clearly visible, but perhaps it was a boil that had to be lanced at some point and a fight that Democrats have to have.”
Brokaw’s assertion that Brazile’s accusations shouldn’t be discussed because they’re in the past was ridiculous because that could just be applied to Trump. As a journalist, he should be interested in holding all politicians accountable for their actions and not just the Republican. But this is also coming from the same man who earlier in the program claimed he couldn’t think of a President who put more blame on other people than Donald Trump.
Transcript below:
NBC
Meet the Press
November 5, 2017
11:21:57 AM EasternCHUCK TODD: Back now with end game. Gene, Donna Brazile, what did she -- what did the Clintons do to her?
EUGENE ROBINSON: That's a good question I'd like to know. Maybe I'll give her a call.
TODD: I don't know what other way to ask this question.
ROBINSON: No, it's a good question. She just said this morning on another network, you know, anybody that didn't like her telling her story can go to hell. So, she's determined to tell her story and I too think there must have been some interaction between her and the Clinton campaign, between her and Clinton, some interaction that left a very sour taste in her mouth.
TOM BROKAW: Well, I think this is a manifestation of all that is wrong with the Democratic Party, frankly. I mean, this is a time they ought to be talking about the future and they ought to be organizing themselves about what they want to do with the country. Except we go back and we've got this internecine fight going on about something that happened some time ago. Donna is well-known, as you all know, for kind of ready, fire, aim on a lot of the stuff she does. [Chuck Todd laughs] But to go back over this now when they're trying to win congressional races and trying to get ready for '18 seems to me to be beyond counterproductive.
(…)
11:24:48 AM Eastern
KASIE HUNT: Look, this DNC controversy, I’m sitting there and watching it. Every Democrat I ask about it tries to ignore questions about it. They pretend they're not even seeing it. They have their heads in the sand about the state of their own liberal base and they can watch the Republicans self-emulate and so they're ignoring their own problems. It's going to come back to bite them.
ROBINSON: But that’s exactly it. So, I can make this counterargument about the Brazile book and the allegations, which is that this was going on beneath the surface.
TODD: Yep.
ROBINSON: Whether or not, you know, it wasn't clearly visible, but perhaps it was a boil that had to be lanced at some point and a fight that Democrats have to have.
