On Tuesday night’s The Kelly File, Fox News’ Ed Henry and Howard Kurtz blasted Hillary Clinton for her refusal to take questions from the press since she announced her presidential candidacy.
Host Megyn Kelly declared “a new landmark of sorts today as we mark one month into Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign, and she’s yet to give a single interview. Taking a total of only eight questions, in a month from the press, she’s running for President, you know.”
Kelly then turned to Ed Henry, Fox News’ Chief White House Correspondent, who highlighted how “the Washington Post now has a tracking device of sorts on its website, it’s now been 30,000 minutes or so. That’s about two million seconds since Hillary Clinton took a question. No questions of course, on the Clinton foundation, on the e-mail situation, but also on substantive issues.”
Henry explained that compared to her GOP counterparts such as Carly Fiorina “[o]n the Republican side, Fiorina’s had 21 press availabilities or interviews compared to zero by Hillary Clinton. Fiorina has taken 322 questions in total, Hillary Clinton, 8.”
Kelly then brought on MediaBuzz host Howard Kurtz who argued the Clinton’s decision to ignore the press “seems like a strategy of stonewalling” and “I don’t think in the modern era, there’s been a major Presidential candidate who has done no interviews and stiffed the traveling press corps for this period of time.”
The MediaBuzz host went one step further and suggested that by “stonewalling the press” she damages her electoral chances:
It hurts her campaign as we saw with the private e-mails controversy because the pressure builds up, not only do you have a disaffected press corps, and by the time she actually does come out and do an interview and take a few questions there’s a long backlog of these negative questions that are going to be thrown at her.
After Megyn Kelly admitted she would prefer Mrs. Clinton at least talk to the liberal MSNBC rather than ignore the media altogether, Kurtz suggested that her campaign team seems to have learned nothing from her failed 2008 White House run:
I don’t understand the strategy and I thought there have been telegraphs from the Clinton camp early on, they had learned the lesson of 2008. They’re going to have a better relationship with the press corps, and I think every campaign obviously doesn’t give us all the access we want, and sometimes there are days that go by we don’t get to ask questions from here...But she has to communicate with independent voters who she will need in the fall of 2016.
See relevant transcript below.
Fox News’ The Kelly File
May 12, 2015
MEGYN KELLY: Well a new landmark of sorts today as we mark one month into Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign, and she’s yet to give a single interview. Taking a total of only eight questions, in a month from the press, she’s running for President, you know. The last one came 21 days ago, unlike her Republican rivals, of course, all of whom have given lengthy sit-downs. Ed Henry’s our Chief White House correspondent, he has been following the Clinton campaign and he’s live in Washington tonight, Ed?
ED HENRY: Good to see you, Megyn. In fact the Washington Post now has a tracking device of sorts on its website, it’s now been 30,000 minutes or so. That’s about two million seconds since Hillary Clinton took a question. No questions of course, on the Clinton foundation, on the e-mail situation, but also on substantive issues. Where she stands on the Trans pacific partnership, that trade deal which is why it’s not just journalists putting the heat on her.
Today you had Democrats Bill de Blasio and Elizabeth Warren here in Washington, unveiling a liberal version of the contract with America. Both said candidates need to show more courage, stiffen their backbones, say where they stand on key issues, and of course it was Jeb Bush, a potential Republican candidate in your exclusive interview who also went after Clinton, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH, FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I go to town hall meetings, don’t screen the questions, and don’t have a protective bubble like Mrs. Clinton does. Don’t have town hall meetings or roundtable discussions where I pick who gets to come, and I screen the questions and the press has to behave a certain way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now look at the comparison between Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton. On the Republican side, Fiorina’s had 21 press availabilities or interviews compared to zero by Hillary Clinton. Fiorina has taken 322 questions in total, Hillary Clinton, 8. Now in fairness, Fiorina, her name ID is nowhere near where Clinton’s is. She needs to earn some of this free media.
I talked to the Clinton camp, they say in a few weeks, we’re going to see her get out there in the near term, give some sort of a big speech to the nation and her supporters. Also start doing interviews, by the way, if you follow me on twitter, I’ll predict what day -- I’m just kidding. I am not going to follow James Rosen.
KELLY: He may have some interesting things to say. Trust me that "Hey Jude-ster" story is like, ok James, wrap. Ok, good to see you.
--
KELLY: She’s going to have to do it eventually. The host of Media Buzz, Howie Kurtz is here. It’s like she wants to just be put into the office without having to do any of the legwork with the people and the media that is required to get there.HOWARD KURTZ: You know Megyn, at first it seemed like a deep-rooted aversion to the press at Hillary Clinton’s part now seems like a strategy of stonewalling. I’m glad the media are going to this countdown clock mode. 21 days since Hillary Clinton has answered a question. While it might seem like whining to some folks, this is part of the process of running for President, I don’t think in the modern era, there’s been a major Presidential candidate who has done no interviews and stiffed the traveling press corps for this period of time.
KELLY: And contrast that with Jeb Bush, who hasn’t given a ton of interviews but he sat down with me for a lengthy exchange. He answered all these controversial questions. He got himself in trouble on a couple of issues, but he went out there, he was respectful of the populous. And subjected himself to one of their representatives, media also serves as the people’s representatives.
KURTZ: Right. Sometimes people think reporters are so self- important, we think these people should come to us. Part of the process of running for President is not only to show that as a candidate you are adept enough to use the media to get your message out, but also to show people that you can handle tough questions under pressure, as preparation for the White House, and Jeb Bush drew the contrast in your interview -- he holds a lot of these so called press gaggles, he takes a few questions at a time at events. Hillary Clinton obviously not doing that.
And I would argue it hurts her campaign as we saw with the private e-mails controversy because the pressure builds up, not only do you have a disaffected press corps, by the time she actually does come out and do an interview and take a few questions there’s a long backlog of these negative questions that are going to be thrown at her.
KELLY: Let me tell you something else that’s going to happen. I don’t care who she sits down with. She could sit down with someone at MSNBC who we might presume might be rooting for her. There’s going to be so much pressure on that journalist ask her all the tough questions, she’s not going to get her message out because at this point, she’s let so many things build up she hasn’t dealt with anything. Any self-respecting journalist will have to hit her on everything.
KURTZ: I don’t understand the strategy and I thought there have been telegraphs from the Clinton camp early on, they had learned the lesson of 2008. They’re going to have a better relationship with the press corps, and I think every campaign obviously doesn’t give us all the access we want, and sometimes there are days that go by we don’t get to ask questions from here...
KELLY: And it’s working for her. She’s still leading the polls among -- she has no real challenger, and she’s not in the same kind of trouble these other candidates are in, because she says nothing.
KURTZ: But she has to communicate with independent voters who she will need in the fall of 2016.
