The Clinton campaign pulled out all the stops for the Sunday shows after its Saturday campaign relaunch…with one notable exception.
While five separate high-profile members of Clintonland made stops on the Sunday morning circuit (including former President Bill Clinton), Hillary Clinton was not among those to do so, continuing her two-month long period without giving a sit-down interview.
In the highest profile of the Sunday show appearances, former President Clinton gave an exclusive interview to CNN’s Jake Tapper during his first broadcast as host of “State of the Union.”
Meanwhile, the likes of John Podesta (“Meet The Press”), Robby Mook (“Face The Nation”), Karen Finney (“Fox News Sunday”) and Joel Benenson (“This Week”) appeared as the campaign looked to back up the former secretary of state’s Saturday speech in New York City.
Clinton’s disdain for Sunday shows is well documented. According to Politico in 2013, Clinton refused to go on the shows in the aftermath of the Benghazi terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy, stemming from her “default” policy of “rejecting all Sunday requests.”
“Secretary Clinton had originally been asked by most of the networks to go on,” Rice told Williams. “She had had an incredibly grueling week dealing with the protests around the Middle East and North Africa. I was asked. I was willing to do so. It wasn’t what I had planned for that weekend originally, but I don’t regret doing that.”
But three sources close to the situation tell POLITICO that it was less a matter of fatigue, and more a matter of Clinton not wanting to go on the shows.
The aides said Clinton had a “default” policy of rejecting all Sunday requests.
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“[Hillary] has a standing refusal [to do Sunday shows]. She hates them. She would rather die than do them,” said one aide on condition of anonymity. “The White House knows, so they would know not to even ask her.”