O. M. G! The Clintons are, like, so glamorous! And ‘President Hillary’ would be, like, awesome because girl power!
Ok, Entertainment Tonight co-anchor Nancy O’Dell’s September 22 coverage of the 10th annual Clinton Global Initiative didn’t quite sound like that, but it was close. For her report, O’Dell interviewed “the biggest star of them all,” former President Bill Clinton, to continuously ask him about Hillary running in 2016. “If Hillary were to win the White House, will it feel cool to be in the White House again?” she asked at one point.
To introduce her segment, O’Dell wondered, “Will Hillary run for president? And is President Clinton ready to be the first husband?”
She turned to Bill Clinton for the answers: “What are you going to do now if she runs for the White House, and you lose her to the White House?”
“If she decides to run, I will strongly support her,” Clinton responded. He continued:
"I love her and I also think she's the ablest person I've ever worked with. But it's all up to the American people and we'll just see what happens. I think the most important thing is what's good for the American people, what are we going to do, how are we going to have more prosperity, peace, security and do it together.”
But O’Dell didn’t give up on her interrogation, and probed, “If Hillary were to win the White House, will it feel cool to be in the white house again or will it feel comfortable? How will that feel?”
“I'm not sure how it would feel,” he replied. “This is my life now. I'm out of office, except for election time when people want me to help for a minute. If I believe they should win, I do what I can to help them.”
But where Clinton was cautious, O’Dell wasn’t. “I think it's time for a woman in the White House,” she said. She later clarified, “Well, being a woman, you know, I had to give it a try.”
During the event, O’Dell also asked Sting, “You think it's time for a woman in the White House?” “Absolutely,” he agreed. “No, I think it's time for more and more women to enter the political arena. Men have made such a mess of it.” Rock stars: is there anything they don't know?
The sentiment went contagious that night, as NBC late-night star Seth Meyers proclaimed as the event emcee: “President Clinton is here! And so is Bill!”
— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.
