The RNC lobbed a hand grenade at Hillary Clinton‘s press camp Thursday over reporter access. The attack was in direct response to a MSNBC.com story that claims that Clinton wants a “fresh start” with the press, whom she despises.
The byline on the MSNBC.com story is Alex Seitz-Wald, who, when he dons his glasses, could pass for a nerdy younger brother to WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza.
He announced that Clinton is seeking “warmer relations” with the press.
An anonymous source told Seitz-Wald, “There’s been a collective sigh of relief from flacks and reporters alike,” said one Democratic communications operative, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “It is clear they’re ready to turn the page.”
The reporter wrote that the sentiment was reflected by Democratic operatives who spoke with the ultra-lefty MSNBC Wednesday night. Is this a JOKE? MSNBC, which is largely made up of ex-Obama White House aides and a slew of other liberals gets calls returned by Clintonland and somehow that’s considered “warmer relations?”
Come the hell on.
Last May, Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman wrote a lengthy piece for Politico Magazine on Clinton’s potential run for the White House. They wrote in no uncertain terms that the media was the biggest impediment to her getting in.
“If she doesn’t run, the single biggest factor holding her back will be the media, according to an informal survey of three dozen friends, allies and former aides interviewed for this article. As much as anything else, her ambivalence about the race, they told us, reflects her distaste for and apprehension of a rapacious, shallow and sometimes outright sexist national political press corps acting as enablers for her enemies on the right.”
Their headline blared: “What’s Hillary Clinton Afraid Of?”
RNC spokesman Michael Short prefaced 28 examples of how Clinton is still closed to the press: “Well, when the bar is set this low…” And with that, he listed 28 examples of how Clinton’s aides have stonewalled press questions, the most recent example from Wednesday’s press cycle.
02/04/15: “A Clinton spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.”02/04/15: “Neither Ready for Hillary nor Hillary Clinton’s office returned a request for comment.”02/04/15: “Mrs. Clinton’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.”02/03/15: “Clinton’s spokesman declined to comment in response to BuzzFeed News’s questions on Monday, but Clinton did tweet the following …”02/02/15: “A Clinton spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.”01/30/15: “The incident is reminiscent of the Clinton Global Initiative conference in September, where reporters were being escorted by staff right up to the bathroom stall.”01/29/14: “A spokesman for Clinton did not immediately return a request for comment.”01/27/15: “A spokesman for Clinton has not yet responded to a request for comment.”01/22/15: “A request for comment to the Clinton Foundation regarding Kane’s case went unanswered.12/19/14: “Aides to Clinton declined comment.”12/18/14: “A Clinton spokesman … declined comment and would not provide details.”12/13/14: “A representative for Clinton didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.”12/11/14: “…Clinton’s team has not responded to request for comment…”12/08/14: “Clinton’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.”12/08/14: “A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.”12/03/14: “A Clinton aide declined comment.”11/27/14: “A Clinton spokesman refused to comment on the demands.”11/26/14: “A Clinton spokesman declined to comment on the speaking arrangements.”11/23/14: “Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill declined comment on the ABC interview.”11/20/14: “A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton declined comment.”11/16/14: “…her aides did not respond to requests for comment…”09/24/14: “The Clinton team is following reporters to the bathroom. Here’s why that matters.”08/19/14: “A Clinton spokesperson did not respond to a HuffPost request for comment Tuesday.”08/18/14: “A spokesperson for Clinton declined to comment again on Monday.”07/16/14: “Clinton aides declined to comment.”06/27/14: “Her office declined to comment on the UNLV speech.”06/20/14: “A spokesperson for Clinton did not respond to a request for comment.”05/21/14: “A spokesman for Clinton did not respond to multiple requests for comment.”
Short’s subject line reads: “OFF THE RECORD: no comment.” In bold black. Considering he blasted it out and I never agreed to off-the-record anything, I’m running with it. Clarification: And yes, Short was joking.