Hillary Clinton’s lack of accessibility with reporters has been a point of criticism, especially compared with Donald Trump’s Energizer Bunny method of holding several events, rallies, and tantrums per day. On Labor Day, she sent a clear signal after a press conference drought (a reported 270+ days for those claiming to keep track) by speaking with reporters on her campaign plane. And on Thursday morning, she held a scheduled press conference in White Plains, New York, which turned into an event because of the sheer rarity involved. This is kind of silly when one considers that Clinton’s held plenty of interviews, fundraisers, and her own rallies, but that’s politics.
The press conference included plenty of substance, including Clinton’s assessment of Trump as “temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be Commander-in-Chief.” Clinton’s said this before, but spoke with a new urgency in light of Trump’s lack of an ISIS attack plan (which she calls “disqualifying”) and his NBC Commander-In-Chief Forum appearance as a whole. Clinton’s not thrilled with Trump’s suggestion that America just go “take oil” from other countries. He also bashed U.S. military leadership while praising Vladimir Putin and Russia, and Clinton feels this is a dangerous turning point if voters allow this rhetoric to stand. Clinton wants every Republican politician to answer whether “they agree with Donald Trump about these statements.”
Consider this, though. The press has been clamoring to ask Clinton questions in an unrehearsed setting, and one of the first inquiries in this presser just happened to involve RNC Chair Reince Priebus’ tweet about her face. Instead of asking about the issues, one reporter wanted Clinton to discuss criticism of her serious demeanor. Here’s how Clinton responded:
“I’m going to let all of you ponder that last question. I think there will be a lot of PhD theses and popular journalism writing on that subject for years to come … I don’t take anything seriously that comes from the RNC. We were talking about serious issues last night. I know the difference between what we have to do to fix the VA, what we have to do to take the fight to ISIS, than just making political happy talk. And I had a very short window of time in that event last night to convey the seriousness with which I would approach the issues that concern our country. Trump chose to talk about his deep admiration and support for Vladimir Putin. Maybe he did it with a smile, and I guess the RNC would have liked that.”
So, she turned a bizarre question around and offered the same inquiry on Trump regarding an issue relevant to foreign policy, which happens to be his deep and abiding respect for Vladimir Putin. During this presser, Clinton also criticized Trump for being “totally inappropriate and undisciplined” while discussing what he’d learned during his first U.S. intelligence briefings. Granted, he didn’t reveal any details, but he did slam Obama and remark that he was “pretty good with the body language,” so he knew the experts were “not happy” with Obama’s actions. Clinton told reporters that she’d never comment on what happened during an intelligence briefing.
Clinton was also asked about Gary Johnson’s deer-in-the-headlights gaffe when questioned about Aleppo. She couldn’t help but laugh, which just goes to show Reince Priebus that, yes, Clinton does have a sense of humor, even about some serious issues.
Clinton on Gary Johnson’s Aleppo gaffe: “You can look on the map and find Aleppo” https://t.co/RcHWjfUviq
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 8, 2016
