During an appearance on Sunday’s MediaBuzz, liberal Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers attacked the Republicans for their handling of Hillary Clinton’s testimony before the House Benghazi committee.
After Powers touted several conservative commentators who thought that Clinton’s testimony didn’t reveal any new information about the 2012 terrorist attack, she argued that “the obsession with the Sidney Blumenthal e-mails. It was pathetic to watch, honestly. It was really pathetic.”
The liberal Fox News contributor began her remarks by claiming that anyone who didn’t think that the GOP performed “badly” last week just “hate[s]” Hillary:
I really do believe that the people who didn't see this as Hillary performing well, a, and the Republicans performing badly, it wasn't just a Hillary performed well. It was that they performed badly, are people who just really just hate Hillary. Like, I think they're incapable of actually seeing what’s in front of them.
While Powers did admit that the 2012 Benghazi attack was worth investigating, she ultimately called the Republican's questioning Hillary about her relationship with Sidney Blumenthal “pathetic” and evidence that they “blew” the hearing:
[F]irst of all, the obsession with the Sidney Blumenthal e-mails. It was pathetic to watch, honestly. It was really pathetic. And I'm somebody, I think anybody who watches me or reads my writing knows I'm completely sympathetic to the idea that we need to be investigating Benghazi. So I’m not saying that this isn’t an important issue, I'm saying, they blew it.
See relevant transcript below.
Fox News’ MediaBuzz
October 25, 2015
HOWARD KURTZ: Kirsten, some of the coverage on fox said the hearings proved that Hillary Clinton was a liar and that there were these bombshells. But the rest of mainstream media saw mostly old news or rehashed news.
KIRSTEN POWERS: It wasn't just the mainstream media. Byron York wrote an article saying essentially that this was a marathon hearing. It was a bust he said.
KURTZ: Benghazi bust was the headline. He said a marathon hearing that didn’t accomplish much.
POWERS: Right. And you had Erick Erickson saying essentially the same thing.
KURTZ: John Podhoretz, a conservative columnist.
POWERS: You had Mike Huckabee coming out and saying the same thing, saying that it was, basically a net win for Hillary. So I don't think that -- I really do believe that the people who didn't see this as Hillary performing well, a, and the Republicans performing badly, it wasn't just a Hillary performed well. It was that they performed badly, are people who just really just hate Hillary.
Like, I think they're incapable of actually seeing what’s in front of them, which was that the Republicans had this -- first of all, the obsession with the Sidney Blumenthal e-mails. It was pathetic to watch, honestly. It was really pathetic. And I'm somebody, I think anybody who watches me or reads my writing knows I'm completely sympathetic to the idea that we need to be investigating Benghazi. So I’m not saying that this isn’t an important issue, I'm saying, they blew it.
