Satellite radio host Howard Stern is no stranger to the 2016 presidential election. Between Republican nominee Donald Trump’s countless past appearances on the program and Stern’s predilection for asking guests about who they’d vote for, it should come as no surprise that the 62-year-old shock jock wants to add Hillary Clinton to his list of interview scores. So far, the Clinton campaign has turned down his requests for a sit-down, but as Stern told the Washington Post‘s Geoff Edgers, that hasn’t stopped his team from making their offer in the clearest terms possible.
“I don’t think I’d handle Hillary Clinton any differently than I would a musician,” Stern explains by way of his Billy Joel interview. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable having someone in who is pressured somehow and kind of overhype the experience. They’ve got to come to that conclusion on their own. Having said that, we’ve reached out and said, we’d love to have Hillary on.”
Of course, this is Howard Stern we’re talking about, so while the radio host pays lip service to not wanting Clinton to feel “pressured” while on the program, her political and personal pasts (i.e. President Bill Clinton’s extramarital transgressions) would likely come up in conversation. Hence why Edgers suggests Stern wouldn’t hesitate to ask “about her marriage.” Amazingly, Stern hints otherwise:
“When you’re talking about the scope of someone’s life and that becomes something in their life, it becomes more comfortable to talk about. You’ve heard my interviews. I don’t avoid topics… [But I’m not] looking to do a confrontational show and have the person walk out. I know guys in radio who do that. They ask the worst question up front and then the person walks out.”
Instead, Stern insists he thinks Clinton is a “fascinating person” and would prefer to give her a chance “to not be the politician, but to be the human being.” Considering his maturing penchant for long, intimate and thought-provoking interviews a la Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, perhaps Clinton would do well to give the talker a few hours of her time.
(Via the Washington Post)