Tuesday on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, the eponymous host and Washington Post reporter Karen Tumulty painted Hillary Clinton’s career as one of tragedy and triumph, that included a rocky road of firsts that have always been achieved the “hard way,” and scorn overcome by “setting out, stumbling, picking herself back up, and grinding on.” Are you kidding me?
The mainstream media is relentless in their coddling of Hillary Clinton. If she’s down, they pick her back up. If she’s up, they lift her up higher. With that, it is unsurprising that Tumulty jumped in with gusto when prompted by Mitchell to discuss Clinton’s career-long series of embattled firsts:
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Karen Tumulty, the whole arc of Hillary Clinton's career we’ve been following it, you and I, for decades now, as she has achieved she's a number of firsts, but always the hard way.
KAREN TUMULTY: You know, that's really true. And even in 2008, you know, Barack Obama was able to sort of get all the attention as the historic candidate. But one thing people overlooked even then was that you know, no women had ever before in history won a state primary. And yet somehow she again, when, when Hillary Clinton does these things, I mean her, the pattern of her career is she sets out, she stumbles, she picks herself backup, she grinds on. So you know again, sometimes it’s, it’s easy to overlook how many barriers that she has pushed. And you know, so it’s left her in this rather paradoxical position for the last 20 years in a row. She has been voted the most admired woman in the world. In the Gallup Poll. And yet, she starts this Dem--this general election season with higher negatives than any democratic nominee has ever had.
It is not a coincidence that Clinton is entering the general election season with higher negatives than any Democratic nominee has ever had. And as for the Gallup poll, this sounds not like a case of name recognition, but misdiagnosed admiration. How many barriers did Clinton have to “push through” to become the Most Admired Woman in the World twenty years in a row? Yes, this was the twentieth year she was named by Gallup, except all it took this year was a thirteen percent share among poll participants. The struggle is real.
However, Tumulty got one thing right. Hillary Clinton is most certainly in a paradoxical position. The most recent paradox centers around all of the major networks who have hailed her as "making history" and the “first woman to be declared the nominee of a national party.” Yet, the primary in California is still underway and she is up against a Democratic opponent who is determined to take her to a contested convention.
Do not be fooled by MSNBC. The path forged by Hillary Clinton has not been one of trial and tribulation, but a self-serving saga of predomination fueled by manipulation.
View the Full Transcript Here:
06-07-16 MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
12:04:05 PM - 12:07:33 PM
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Karen Tumulty, the whole arc of Hillary Clinton's career we’ve been following it, you and I, for decades now, as she has achieved she's a number of firsts, but always the hard way.
KAREN TUMULTY: You know, that's really true. And even in 2008, you know, Barack Obama was able to sort of get all the attention as the historic candidate. But one thing people overlooked even then was that you know, no women had ever before in history won a state primary. And yet somehow she again, when, when Hillary Clinton does these things, I mean her, the pattern of her career is she sets out, she stumbles, she picks herself backup, she grinds on. So you know again, sometimes it’s, it’s easy to overlook how many barriers that she has pushed. And you know, so it’s left her in this rather paradoxical position for the last 20 years in a row. She has been voted the most admired woman in the world. In the Gallup Poll. And yet, she starts this Dem--this general election season with higher negatives than any democratic nominee has ever had.
MITCHELL: And Kristen, what are we hearing about the White House. Because everyone is awaiting President Obama jumping into this and we reported yesterday that he did call Bernie Sanders on Sunday and that there was a lot of doom and gloom in the Sanders camp, in the inner circle after that call. Obviously giving them a heads up that he's going to make this endorsement. What form do we think it’s going to come? Some kind of announcement from the White House after she go to the top in pledged delegates alone depending on the outcome in these—in today's polling?
KRISTEN WELKER: And Andrea, I did have an extensive conversation with a senior administration official who essentially said they want to wait to see what happens in California. What happens in New Jersey. I anticipate if Secretary Clinton does have a majority of pledged delegates. If she declares victory tonight, for example, that President Obama will endorse her in short order. I am told he is eager to get on to the campaign trail. What does that mean? Well has increasingly been having conversations with his top aides about the role that he is going to play in 2016. And as you point out he did have that conversation with Bernie Sanders, where we think that what happened is he said that he is on the verge of endorsing Secretary Clinton. He's going to be really pivotal to unifying the party after this very divisive primary, particularly getting his coalition on board, those younger voters who right now support Senator Sanders. And he is eager, I am told, to take on Donald Trump. Donald Trump is someone who has not only criticized him, who he thinks threatens his legacy but who has offended him personally, so he's eager to get out on to the campaign trail, Andrea, and get into the game.
MITCHELL: And briefly, Karen, wondering why this moment, this moment for women, politics aside, doesn’t resonate more. Is it because the younger generation of women as we certainly saw in New Hampshire are not flocking to Hillary Clinton, they don't seem to feel this moment the way older women do.
TUMULTY: That's right, I think there is a real generational shift. And it’s going to – I mean a real generational split here and I think it is going to be up to Hillary Clinton and her campaign to sort of remind younger women what this moment means. And it may be easier to do once Bernie Sanders is out of the race.MITCHELL: Karen Tumulty and my colleague Kristen Welker, thank you both so much.
