In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Friday, CBS journalist John Dickerson insisted that Hillary Clinton is more “vindictive” than Donald Trump. Asked by Hewitt who hates political enemies more, the Face the Nation host declared, “I think Clinton. Trump is very tough on those he does not like, as I know, but he gets over it.”
Perhaps realizing what he was saying, Dickerson attempted to retreat, saying, “That’s a tough question.” However, in a February 11, 2014 Slate piece, Dickerson appeared impressed with Clinton’s “ruthlessness.” He praised, “There is nothing wrong per se with an enemies list of the kind reported in [the book] HRC. In a business of leverage and power, it’s almost a best practice.”
But it seems Clinton hasn’t had much of a reason to show rage against Dickerson. In 2015, during a question on the e-mail scandal, the journalist helpfully told Clinton, “you’ve been transparent”:
"You talked a lot about transparency, that, when you think about trust, there's been a lot of talk about that in your campaign and voters having questions, they have questions. Maybe related to this, trust and transparency are related, you've been transparent in the release of these e-mails, but what about before? Because there was a period where you held on to the whole kit and caboodle before any investigators were asking for it long after you were out of the State Department."
— CBS's Face the Nation anchor John Dickerson to Hillary Clinton, September 20, 2015.
In 2016, Dickerson called the e-mail scandal a “stupid issue.” For more of Dickerson's mos liberal outbursts, go here.
A transcript of the May 20 exchange with Hewitt is below:
HUGH HEWITT: Who do you think would be more vindictive toward their political enemies, Trump or Clinton?
JOHN DICKERSON: Oooh, man, I don’t — I don’t know. I think, ah, I think Clinton. Trump is very tough on those he does not like, as I know, but he gets over it. Now having said that also — but I also think about some of the people who’s now supporting Hillary Clinton who supported Obama last time, and where there were really hard feelings, and now she’s working in sync with them. So— man, that’s a good— that’s a tough question.
HEWITT: I think it’s Clinton. I think your first instinct was right.
