MSNBC's Ari Melber may want to brush up on his Clinton scandal history in preparation for a Hillary Clinton White House run. As he substitute hosted Tuesday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Melber mistook a reference to the infamous cattle futures deal for a criticism of the former First Family making money since leaving office.
In fact, the deal refers to the former First Lady suspiciously making $100,000 in the cattle futures market with only a $1,000 investment while her husband Bill Clinton was holding office as Arkansas attorney general in 1978, raising the possibility of a secret payoff.
After reading a satirical letter about Hillary Clinton and her future grandchild published by the New York Post, a confused Melber wondered:
I mean, what is up with all of this "mommy," "grandma," phraseology to deal with, I guess, a criticism about the money they've made out of office, which, by the way, could be a substantive critique if you just dealt with it directly?
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, April 22, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC:
ARI MELBER: Let me read to you a little more from the New York Post letter describing Hillary Clinton, which goes beyond the Chelsea part.
Quote, "Grandma is not what grown-ups call 'maternal' and was busy turning $1,000 into $100,000 in the magical cow trading market when your mommy was a baby, so she will have to make believe she is really 'helping out' with you. No crying if she gets the diaper on the wrong end!"
I mean, what is up with all of this "mommy," "grandma," phraseology to deal with, I guess, a criticism about the money they've made out of office, which, by the way, could be a substantive critique if you just dealt with it directly?
JESSICA VALENTI, THE GUARDIAN: Right, well, it's just reminding us again and again that she's a woman if we already didn't know that. But, you know, it's, what's really upsetting is this idea that Hillary can't win. Either she is too maternal to run for office or, and she won't, she can't lead, or she's not maternal enough and she's a ball buster, so there's no, sort of, winning either way.
