After covering the upcoming Republican presidential debate on Tuesday, NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer promoted Hillary Clinton preparing to attack her GOP rivals: “Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is planning a preemptive strike against the barrage of criticism that she's expecting from her Republican rivals on that stage tonight. So today she’ll make her case on how she’d take on the ISIS threat.”
In the report that followed, correspondent Kristen Welker declared: “That’s right, Secretary Clinton won't be on that debate stage but she will try to pre-but the Republican candidates.” Welker added that Clinton would “try to paint herself as the adult in the room when it comes to national security.”
After describing Clinton’s planned terrorism speech at the University of Minnesota, Welker offered more campaign talking points: “Clinton will aim to draw a sharp contrast with the entire Republican field, especially Donald Trump, who, of course, called for banning all Muslims from entering the United States. Clinton has called that type of rhetoric dangerous to national security.”
On October 28, the morning before CNBC’s disastrous Republican debate, Welker similarly appeared on Today to boost Clinton’s efforts to tear down the GOP: “With Republicans set to go on the attack tonight, Secretary Hillary Clinton is preparing to counterpunch, releasing four sleek new ads during tonight's GOP debate....The 30-second spots aimed at pre-butting the Republicans by painting Clinton as a champion for working class women voters...”
Here is a full transcript of Welker’s December 15 report:
7:09 AM ET
MATT LAUER: On the other side of the aisle, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is planning a preemptive strike against the barrage of criticism that she's expecting from her Republican rivals on that stage tonight. So today she’ll make her case on how she’d take on the ISIS threat. NBC's Kristen Welker is in Minneapolis with that part of the story. Hi, Kristen, good morning.
KRISTEN WELKER: Hey, Matt, good morning to you. That’s right, Secretary Clinton won't be on that debate stage but she will try to pre-but the Republican candidates. She’s also going to try to paint herself as the adult in the room when it comes to national security. That's, of course, a top issue for voters.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Clinton’s Take on Terror; Lays Out Plan to Deter San Bernardino-Type Attacks]
You might remember that last month Secretary Clinton rolled out her strategy to defeat ISIS in the Middle East. Well, here at the University of Minnesota today she's going to detail the final part of that plan – how to defend the country here at home. She's going to point to Minnesota's robust plan to counter violent extremism, which has plagued this area by the way. According to one campaign official, Clinton will detail her strategy to counter an attack like San Bernardino, quote, “from recruitment, to training, to planning, to execution, all while staying true to our values.”
Now, Clinton will aim to draw a sharp contrast with the entire Republican field, especially Donald Trump, who, of course, called for banning all Muslims from entering the United States. Clinton has called that type of rhetoric dangerous to national security.
Now, our latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Clinton leads Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in a general election match-up. She also has a strong lead in her own primary. The next big test for Democrats will come on Saturday when they face off in their own debate in New Hampshire. Matt, Savannah, back to you.
LAUER: Alright, Kristen Welker in Minneapolis. Kristen, thanks.
