On Monday, both NBC’s Today and CBS Mornings devoted significant air time to promoting the new memoir from longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin while lamenting how the scandals that swirled around her disgraced ex-husband Anthony Weiner may have been what cost Clinton the 2016 election. The CBS coverage even imagined an alternate reality where the Democrat “could be in her second term as president right now.”
“For the last decade Huma Abedin has been defined in the public eye by those closest to her. Her work as a long-time aide to Hillary Clinton and her marriage to disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner put her in a harsh spotlight at times,” co-host Savannah Guthrie declared on NBC’s Today show as she introduced Abedin.
During a brief taped report before the live interview, Guthrie reminded viewers that Abedin and Weiner “separated in 2016, just months before the FBI reopened its case into Clinton’s e-mails, after some e-mails between Clinton and Abedin were found on Weiner’s computer, a development celebrated by Clinton’s opponent.”
The anchor recalled how Clinton bitterly blamed that development for her defeat to Donald Trump: “The former Democratic nominee saying on Today in 2017 she believed the FBI investigation into the e-mail scandal, announced shortly before the election, led directly to her loss.” A soundbite ran of Clinton whining: “I think the determining factor was the intervention by Comey on October 28th.”
In that same 2017 interview, Guthrie’s disgraced former co-host Matt Lauer asked Clinton if Trump “stole the election” from her. That was back before the leftist media deemed such questions to be a threat to democracy. The friendly chat also include softballs from Guthrie, like asking the failed candidate: “How’s your pain?”
On Monday, Guthrie pressed Abedin on whether she felt “guilty” for supposedly being to blame for Clinton losing the election:
Things got very complicated when, late in the campaign in 2016, some e-mails between you and Hillary Clinton were discovered on Anthony Weiner’s laptop, they had been forwarded, the investigation found, so that he could print them for you. But in any event, James Comey reopened the e-mail investigation 11 days before Election Day and you heard Hillary Clinton say she felt that contributed and was the determining factor, in her words, to her loss. You’ve said in the book that you will carry that to your grave. You feel guilty about it?
Abedin confirmed: “I felt – I lived with a tremendous amount of guilt.”
Wrapping up the exchange, Guthrie eagerly wondered about Abedin’s future political plans: “But what do you see for your future?...Think you’ll run for office one of these days?” Abedin initially replied: “I’m not saying no to anything.” However, after Guthrie got excited by the prospect, Abedin switched to, “I don’t know.”
Over on CBS Mornings, co-host Nate Burleson touted: “...the first television interview with Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide. Abedin spoke with CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell to discuss her new book, Both/And: A Life In Many Worlds.”
The interview initially aired on CBS Sunday Morning, but the Monday morning show highlighted excerpts of O’Donnell’s 12-minute profile piece:
Abedin’s two lives truly came crashing together. Weiner was caught sexting with an underage girl and FBI agents found e-mails involving Hillary Clinton on his laptop....Just 11 days before the election, FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening an investigation into Clinton’s e-mails. He would finally close the probe two days before Election Day, but many considered the damage had been done.... It all ended, of course, with Hillary Clinton losing to Donald Trump. The debate over what caused her defeat, however, has never ended.
Turning to Abedin, O’Donnell wistfully observed: “Hillary Clinton could be in her second term as president right now.” Abedin lamented: “That is a thought that crosses my mind probably more than it crosses hers. That is something that lives here that I think I’m going to take to my grave.”
Appearing on the broadcast after the taped segment, O’Donnell told her colleagues: “...that giant question mark, which we talk about in this interview – did her relationship with Anthony Weiner and those discovered e-mails on his laptop somehow lead to Hillary Clinton’s defeat? It’s utterly fascinating.” Co-host Gayle King remarked: “It is still an ongoing question that many people still debate to this day.”
NBC’s 12-minute effort to sell Abedin’s book was brought to viewers by Walmart, CBS’s six-and-a-half-minute push was brought to viewers by Uber. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a partial transcript of the November 1 segment on NBC’s Today show:
8:10 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: For the last decade Huma Abedin has been defined in the public eye by those closest to her. Her work as a long-time aide to Hillary Clinton and her marriage to disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner put her in a harsh spotlight at times. And through it all, she has stayed mostly silent until now. Huma is out with a new memoir, it’s called Both/And: A Life In Many Worlds. We’re gonna talk to her in just a moment, but first, more on her journey.
Huma Abedin has been a fixture in the political world for decades. Making a name for herself as Hillary Clinton’s right-hand woman, with some calling her Clinton’s second daughter. Abedin started as a White House intern in 1996 before following Clinton to the Senate, the State Department, then back to the campaign trail as a top adviser for Clinton’s 2016 presidential run.
HILLARY CLINTON: Come out and help us fight!
GUTHRIE: But it wasn’t until Abedin’s personal life became consumed by scandal that she found herself in the spotlight.
ANTHONY WEINER: I’m deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife Huma and our family.
GUTHRIE: In 2011, her estranged husband Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress after he admitted to texting sexually explicit photos of himself to several women.
(...)
8:12 AM ET
GUTHRIE: The couple separated in 2016, just months before the FBI reopened its case into Clinton’s e-mails, after some e-mails between Clinton and Abedin were found on Weiner’s computer, a development celebrated by Clinton’s opponent.
DONALD TRUMP [OCTOBER 31, 2016]: Thank you, Huma. Good morning job, Huma.
GUTHRIE: The former Democratic nominee saying on Today in 2017 she believed the FBI investigation into the e-mail scandal, announced shortly before the election, led directly to her loss.
HILLARY CLINTON [SEPTEMBER 13, 2017]: I think the determining factor was the intervention by Comey on October 28th.
(...)
8:18 AM ET
GUTHRIE: All this time this is all happening, it would be enough for any one person, you’re also at the heights of political power, there’s a presidential campaign going on. You were a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton and the irony is not lost on anyone that Hillary Clinton herself had been through public scandal, had had to deal with an infidelity. Did she give you advice then? Did she say, “Huma, leave him,” or did she – what was her thought then?
HUMA ABEDIN: I have had the privilege of working for her for 25 years and I would say – and I think anybody who works for Hillary would say this – is whenever I’ve had any personal challenges or really any challenges, she has approached the conversation with me as a friend first and a boss second. And she showed every time that, “I am here for you, I support you, whatever your decision is. We are all here for you.”
GUTHRIE: Things got very complicated when, late in the campaign in 2016, some e-mails between you and Hillary Clinton were discovered on Anthony Weiner’s laptop, they had been forwarded, the investigation found, so that he could print them for you. But in any event, James Comey reopened the e-mail investigation 11 days before Election Day and you heard Hillary Clinton say she felt that contributed and was the determining factor, in her words, to her loss. You’ve said in the book that you will carry that to your grave. You feel guilty about it?
ABEDIN: I felt – I lived with a tremendous amount of guilt. The moment this unprecedented announcement ten days before the election, breaking the norm of any previous FBI director, yeah, it was a shock to my system and then two days earlier. And the thing that really got to me about that experience is the year before, when I had heard that FBI was starting this investigation, I had not heard from anybody about any information and I had volunteered, I had reached out to say, can I be helpful? I didn’t understand why nobody tried to reach me. So, yes, I will carry that to my grave.
(...)
8:22 AM ET
GUTHRIE: Well, final seconds, this is a story about you. I knew we wouldn’t have time to cover it all. But what do you see for your future?
ABEDIN: Well, this is a whole new chapter for me. I am doing the thing with you, Savannah, that for my entire adult life I was terrified of, which is putting myself out there and being in public and so I’m really looking forward to my next chapter.
GUTHRIE: Think you’ll run for office one of these days?
ABEDIN: I am copying Shonda Rhimes, this is my year of saying yes. I’m not saying no to anything.
GUTHRIE: Wow, okay, you’re making a little news there at the end. That was yes.
ABEDIN: Well, that was, I don’t know.
GUTHRIE: Okay, okay. Alright, well good. You’ll have to answer it again in the next interview. Huma Abedin, thank you so much, a pleasure to be with you.
ABEDIN: Thanks, Savannah.
GUTHRIE: The book is called Both/And: A Life In Many Worlds and it’s out tomorrow.
Here is a partial transcript of the November 1 segment on CBS Mornings:
8:35 AM ET
NATE BURLESON: Now turning to the first television interview with Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide. Abedin spoke with CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell to discuss her new book, Both/And: A Life In Many Worlds. It’s published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, a division of ViacomCBS. And on CBS Sunday Morning, Abedin discussed her marriage to disgraced former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner and how that scandal affected her job.
NORAH O’DONNELL: By 2016, Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin were officially separated. A month after Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee for president, yet another bombshell.
(...)
8:36 AM ET
O’DONNELL: A few weeks later, Abedin’s two lives truly came crashing together. Weiner was caught sexting with an underage girl and FBI agents found e-mails involving Hillary Clinton on his laptop.UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any reaction to the FBI investigation?!
O’DONNELL: Just 11 days before the election, FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening an investigation into Clinton’s e-mails. He would finally close the probe two days before Election Day, but many considered the damage had been done. You write, “This man Weiner was going to ruin me, and now he was going jeopardize Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency.” And then you write you called Anthony Weiner and you said what?
HUMA ABEDIN: “‘Anthony,’ I said, wanting to shake him through the phone, if she loses this election, it will be because of you and me. That night I wrote one line in my notebook -- I do not know how I am going to survive this. Help me God.” Yeah.
DONALD TRUMP: I’ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton.
O’DONNELL: It all ended, of course, with Hillary Clinton losing to Donald Trump. The debate over what caused her defeat, however, has never ended. Hillary Clinton could be in her second term as president right now.
ABEDIN: That is a thought that crosses my mind probably more than it crosses hers. That is something that lives here that I think I’m going to take to my grave.
O’DONNELL: When you say take it to your grave, do you mean because you think about something you could have done to help fix the situation, make it better? Because you’re kind of in that fix-it role.
O’DONNELL I have reconciled – and it took me a while to reconcile – that it was not all my fault. I lived with that, I did. I don’t believe that anymore. It’s more a sense of an ache in the heart.
BURLESON: Norah O’Donnell is joining us right now, good morning. So Norah, this is a very honest and revealing interview. Is this just about her promoting the book, or is it deeper than that?
O’DONNELL: I do think it’s deeper than that. I think Huma Abedin is someone who has been a private person largely for the past 25 years as a Hillary Clinton aide, more public, of course, when her husband ran for mayor of New York. But I – I asked her, I said, this is your first television interview. This woman has never done a television interview until our piece on Sunday Morning. And she said she did it because she said she realized that if you don’t tell your story, someone else is writing your history.
It is one of the most powerful interviews I have ever done. The book is actually one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m not in the business of pushing someone’s book, but she is a fascinating person that I’ve known, you know, as someone who was with Hillary Clinton, I’m a reporter, but I didn’t know her personally. She starts off the book talking about her parents, her mother from Pakistan, her father from India. Both Fulbright scholars. Growing up in Saudi Arabia. Really never, ever having a boyfriend until Anthony Weiner, is really the only man she’s been with.
And then, of course, living her life in this very public scandal, and that giant question mark, which we talk about in this interview – did her relationship with Anthony Weiner and those discovered e-mails on his laptop somehow lead to Hillary Clinton’s defeat? It’s utterly fascinating.
GAYLE KING: It is still an ongoing question that many people still debate to this day.
(...)
8:40 AM ET
O’DONNELL: I did ask her what’s next, and she kept talking about a reawakening, a rebirth. I wonder whether there is something different in the future for Huma Abedin, whether it’s a different role or a job where it’s a life in public service as a political candidate herself. I think those are all potential options in the future for Huma Abedin.
(...)
8:41 AM ET
KING: Alright, cheering for Huma. Thank you, Norah.
BURLESON: No doubt. And great stuff as usual, Norah.
KING: Yeah.
BURLESON: Thank you so much. And you can see more of the exclusive interview with Huma Abedin tonight on CBS Evening News.
