On Wednesday’s NBC Today, a distraught Andrea Mitchell was still struggling to come to terms with Hillary Clinton losing the presidential race and sorrowfully lamented: “...late yesterday, her team was still optimistic that they would prevail. Instead they're now planning a concession speech shortly this morning as history put on hold yet again.”
Mitchell sympathized: “At Clinton headquarters, heartbreak....Eight years after her concession speech invoking that famous glass ceiling.” A soundbite ran of one Clinton supporter bemoaning: “Oh my gosh. You know, I kept looking up at the glass ceiling and it's still just solid.”
The reporter hailed the Democratic nominee for having “embraced the historic nature of her run from the beginning” and “Breaking new ground on women’s rights, even as First Lady.”
Mitchell then suggested that the FBI was to blame for Clinton’s defeat:
But a quarter of century in the spotlight also one of Clinton's biggest obstacles, as she struggled to fully earn voters’ trust, despite a deeply unpopular opponent. Never escaping questions about here use of a private e-mail server....The FBI announcement on October 28th bringing the scandal back into the spotlight, becoming Clinton’s October surprise. Knocking her from what seemed a comfortable lead just 11 days before the election.
She wrapped up the report by proclaiming: “Women supporters who had hoped this would finally be their year shocked and distraught....The wait for the country's first female commander-in-chief, 240 years and still counting.”
After the taped report, Mitchell fretted: “And if the woman President Obama called the most qualified person ever to run for the White House couldn't break through, the question remains, who can?”
Here is a full transcript of the November 9 segment:
8:32 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Now to Hillary Clinton's attempt to break the ultimate glass ceiling in politics, a presidential bid that once again fell short. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell was at Clinton headquarters last night and she of course covered the Clinton campaign in 2008 and now here again.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Good morning, Savannah. Good morning, Matt. Well, even as Hillary Clinton lost much of her ground in recent polls, late yesterday, her team was still optimistic that they would prevail. Instead they're now planning a concession speech shortly this morning as history put on hold yet again.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Inside the Clinton Campaign; How Candidate Failed to Break the Glass Ceiling]
At Clinton headquarters, heartbreak.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN [CLINTON SUPPORTER]: Oh my gosh. You know, I kept looking up at the glass ceiling and it's still just solid.
MITCHELL: Eight years after her concession speech invoking that famous glass ceiling.
HILLARY CLINTON [2008]: Thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million crack in it.
MITCHELL: Tuesday night, Clinton a no-show, instead sending her campaign manager John Podesta out to send devastated supporters home.
JOHN PODESTA: So we’re not gonna have anything more to say tonight. She’s done an amazing job and she is not done yet!
MITCHELL: Unlike her 2008 bid for the White House, this time, Clinton embraced the historic nature of her run from the beginning.
CLINTON: If America is going to lead, we need to learn from the women of the world who have blazed new paths....If fighting for women’s healthcare and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in!
MITCHELL: Breaking new ground on women’s rights, even as First Lady.
CLINTON: Human rights are women's rights.
MITCHELL: But a quarter of century in the spotlight also one of Clinton's biggest obstacles, as she struggled to fully earn voters’ trust, despite a deeply unpopular opponent. Never escaping questions about here use of a private e-mail server.
CLINTON: It would have been better if I’d had two separate accounts to begin with.
MITCHELL: The FBI announcement on October 28th bringing the scandal back into the spotlight, becoming Clinton’s October surprise. Knocking her from what seemed a comfortable lead just 11 days before the election.
And despite a massive ground game and numerous polls putting her ahead, analysts say her campaign vastly underestimating the depth of Trump’s support among white voters in suburban and rural areas. Another weakness, winning over millennials, many of whom flocked to Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.
Women supporters who had hoped this would finally be their year shocked and distraught.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN B: Somebody has to win and somebody has to lose and you move forward and you move on. This should be an example of why we need more women running, right?
MITCHELL: The wait for the country's first female commander-in-chief, 240 years and still counting.
And if the woman President Obama called the most qualified person ever to run for the White House couldn't break through, the question remains, who can?
MATT LAUER: And we’re going to hear from Secretary Clinton coming up in just a little while.
GUTHRIE: Andrea, thank you.
