On Monday's MSNBC Live, Steve Kornacki refreshingly spotlighted Hillary Clinton's utter lack of press conferences in 2016. Kornacki used a "Most Important Number of the Day" segment to point out that Mrs. Clinton's last presser was "268 days ago [as of Monday]...on December Fourth of last year — December Fourth of 2015." The anchor also noted that there were "17 news conferences, so far, for Donald Trump in this campaign — in the 2016 year of this campaign; zero for Hillary Clinton." [video below]
Kornacki led with a clip from the last Clinton press conference. After citing the 268 figure and the date of that presser, the journalist underlined, "Why is this important?...there is a tradition there of candidates coming forward; taking questions from anyone in the press who wants to ask them; being hit with whatever question happens to come to them; and having to deal with it on the spot. That is the tradition of the press conference. It's one that Hillary Clinton has not had much enthusiasm for, though."
The MSNBC anchor continued with the number of press conferences Trump has held since January 1, 2016, and zeroed in on how "Donald Trump...has his own issues with the press. These are highly-imperfect press conferences...because he's been known to ban outlets and reporters from his press conferences. So, he's had more, but they're not always fully press conferences, either — but still, zero for Hillary Clinton this year."
Near the end of the two minute and 21-second segment, Kornacki countered the Clinton campaign's spin about the Democrat's press availability: "Her campaign does point out: she does do interviews relatively frequently — over 350...A couple of catches to this, though: first of all, 65 of the interviews she's done....are events where there's another politician with her; and the other politician is doing the interviewing. It's not exactly sitting down for a rigorous screening....She did have a number of interviews, though, where she sat down that are shorter, too...about three to eight minutes in length when she sits down with members of the press."
The full transcript of the Steve Kornacki segment from MSNBC Live on August 29, 2016:
UNIDENTIFIED MAN (off-camera, from December 4, 2015 campaign event): You want to just say a few words; and then, we'll take a few questions, Secretary — press?
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think we're ready to take a few questions. Yeah — sure.
STEVE KORNACKI: That was Hillary Clinton in Fort Dodge, Iowa at her most recent press conference. And I use the term 'recent' relatively speaking there. Why? Well, it has to do with our 'Most Important Number of the Day' — and that is 268 — as in that was 268 days ago — that clip we just showed you. Hillary Clinton's last press conference was on December Fourth of last year — December Fourth of 2015. She has not held a single press conference since then.
Why is this important? Well, there's no law that says a presidential candidate has to hold a press conference if they don't want to. They don't have to if they can get away with it — maybe, that's the political calculation. But there is a tradition there of candidates coming forward; taking questions from anyone in the press who wants to ask them; being hit with whatever question happens to come to them; and having to deal with it on the spot. That is the tradition of the press conference. It's one that Hillary Clinton has not had much enthusiasm for, though.
Check this out — if we can get this working again; here you go — 17 news conferences, so far, for Donald Trump in this campaign — in the 2016 year of this campaign; zero for Hillary Clinton. We should note, however: Donald Trump, certainly, has his own issues with the press. These are highly-imperfect press conferences these days, because he's been known to ban outlets and reporters from his press conferences. So, he's had more, but they're not always fully press conferences, either — but still, zero for Hillary Clinton this year. Her campaign does point out: she does do interviews relatively frequently — over 350, NPR counted up, for the year 2016 from Hillary Clinton.
A couple of catches to this, though: first of all, 65 of the interviews she's done — they're not interviews like you'd normally think of them. A lot of times, these are events where there's another politician with her; and the other politician is doing the interviewing. It's not exactly sitting down for a rigorous screening. That's 65 of the interviews she gave. She did have a number of interviews, though, where she sat down that are shorter, too. They tend to be shorter — about three to eight minutes in length when she sits down with members of the press. So, Hillary Clinton — she's done some — she's done a bunch of short interviews. She has not done a single press conference, though, in the year 2016. It is our 'Most Important Number of the Day' — 268 days since her last press conference, and counting.
