Given how much coverage the networks have devoted to Stormy Daniels’s claims of an affair with Donald Trump, it might be worth remembering how Hillary Clinton and ABC journalists reacted to Bill Clinton's accuser Gennifer Flowers in 1992.
Stormy Daniels received $130,000 from Trump’s lawyer before the 2016 election. Speaking of $130,000, here’s Clinton on the January 30, 1992 edition of PrimeTime Live:
If somebody's willing to pay you $130,000 or $170,000 to say something and you get your fifteen minutes of fame and you get your picture on the front page of every newspaper and you're some failed cabaret singer who doesn't even have much of a resume to fall back on, and what's there, she lied about — you know, that's the daughter of Willie Horton, as far as I'm concerned. It's the same kind of attempt to keep the real issues of this country out of the mainstream debate where they need to be.
-- Hillary Clinton on ABC's PrimeTime Live, January 30, 1992.
From March 7 to March 25, ABC, CBS and NBC devoted 23 segments and 40 minutes of airtime to the Daniels controversy. On March 26, these networks offered a staggering 61 minutes to the porn star’s appearance on 60 Minutes.
Clearly, 2018 journalists are not following the advice of 1992 Clinton. On that same program, ABC journalist Sam Donaldson dismissed Flowers as the sleek “nightmare” of every married woman:
Gennifer Flowers, who was paid by the tabloid Star to tell her story involving Bill Clinton and to play her tapes of alleged Clinton phone conversations, has the look of every married woman's nightmare: sleek, sexy, a blond femme fatale.
On this Sunday's 60 Minutes, Anchor Anderson Cooper did not disparage porn star Daniels as a “sleek,” “blond” “nightmare.”
Some other interesting moments from the 1992 program. Then-ABC co-host Diane Sawyer said of Mrs. Clinton: “Some wonder whether she should be running for the White House.” Even back then, journalists had their eye on Hillary's future.
Regarding allegations of her husband’s infidelities, Mrs. Clinton pleaded ignorance: “I mean, if you had told me that six months ago, I would have laughed. I would have said, ‘No way.’"
A partial transcript of the 1992 PrimeTime Live segment can be found below. Click “expand” to read:
PrimeTime Live
1/30/1992DIANE SAWYER: Some say she's his most powerful secret weapon.
HILLARY CLINTON: The harder they hit, the more encouraged I get. I've worked very hard on education reform, worked very hard on children's and family issues- -to deal with the problems that are affecting this country!
SAWYER: Some wonder whether she should be running for the White House....
DONALDSON: Gennifer Flowers, who was paid by the tabloid Star to tell her story involving Bill Clinton and to play her tapes of alleged Clinton phone conversations, has the look of every married woman's nightmare: sleek, sexy, a blond femme fatale.
FLOWERS: Yes, I was Bill Clinton's lover for 12 years, and for the past two years I have lied to the press about our relationship to protect him.
CLINTON: Sam, if somebody's willing to pay you $130,000 or $170,000 to say something and you get your 15 minutes of fame and you get your picture on the front page of every newspaper and you're some failed cabaret singer who doesn't even have much of a resume to fall back on, and what's there, she's lied about- you know, that's the daughter of Willie Horton, as far as I'm concerned. It's the same kind of attempt to keep the real issues of this country out of the mainstream debate where they need to be.
DONALDSON: Tough words. But unlike her husband, whose speech tends to round off the sharp edges, Hillary Clinton, campaigning this week in Colorado, drove home her points with a jackhammer, although she says Flowers' bombshell came as a surprise to her.
CLINTON: I mean, if you had told me that six months ago, I would have laughed. I would have said, "No way."
