On Showtime's The Circus: Inside the Wildest Political Show on Earth on Sunday, co-host Alex Wagner jumped at the chance to conduct a softball interview with Hillary Clinton. Wagner, a former MSNBC host and current CBS News correspondent, appeared to have a thrill going up her leg before (and during) the chat with the 2016 loser.
The segment began with Wagner in the passenger seat of a car, announcing that "Hillary Clinton is in town. We just got a call from her press person; who said she might have time for a few questions. When Hillary Clinton calls and says she has time to talk to you, you basically rush over to the other side of town to go talk to Hillary Clinton." Mrs. Clinton is a famous person, but that wasn't her point. The adoration was hard to miss.
Wagner caught up with Clinton at Georgetown University on February 6, reporting she spoke there about "foreign policy and diplomacy on the global stage." Wagner began with the Mueller probe asking if the final report is "going to see daylight. You were a staff attorney during the Watergate investigation. Are you worried about it when you, when you look at the landscape?" Clinton called the concern "premature."
Wagner switched to a different topic: President Trump's threat to declare a national emergency to secure funding for his much-promised border wall.
With a big smile on her face, Wagner asked "If you were calling a national emergency on any topic, what would it be? Where should we be most focused right now?" Clinton responded by ripping the idea of declaring a national emergency: "there's no national emergency at our border. He's frustrated because he can't even convince his own party to support his requests."
Wagner then asked Clinton to weigh in on President Trump at the State of the Union, where he "sort of maybe takes credit for the fact that there are an historic number of women in Congress, what did you think of that moment?"
Clinton gushed over the "incredible candidates who ran largely against the agenda that he has stood for” as black and white photos of the most liberal and/or controversial members of the new Congress, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, appeared on the screen. Clinton then expressed her enthusiasm that "we had all of these women who were wearing white elected…to the Congress!" A very excited Wagner described the white pantsuit fashion statement at the State of the Union as a “trend” that "I feel like you sort of set the wheels in motion for."
What a hard-hitting interview. So much for the "wildest political show on Earth."
A transcript of the relevant portion of Sunday’s edition of The Circus is below. Click "expand" to read more.
The Circus: Inside the Wildest Political Show on Earth
02/10/19
08:14 PM
ALEX WAGNER: Hillary Clinton is in town. We just got a call from her press person, who said that she might have time for a few questions. When Hillary Clinton calls and says she has time to talk to you, you basically rush over to the other side of town to go talk to Hillary Clinton. Nick says have him bring you up.
WAGNER (voice-over): She’s speaking at Georgetown about foreign policy and diplomacy on the global stage.
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Nice to meet you.
HILLARY CLINTON: Hi.
WAGNER: There’s a lot of consternation from Democrats about whether the findings of the Mueller report are going to see daylight. You were a staff attorney…
CLINTON: Yes, I was…
WAGNER: …during the Watergate investigation.
CLINTON: I was, right.
WAGNER: Are you worried about it when you, when you look at the landscape?
CLINTON: Well, I think first he has to write a report. We don’t know that he has or that he intends to. I mean, he’s mostly spoken through his indictments. So I, I think we’re a little premature. I do think, though, that if there is a report, that report should be sent to the Congress and made public.
WAGNER: The President might call a national emergency in the next two weeks. If you were calling a national emergency on any topic, what would it be? Where should we be most focused right now?
CLINTON: I just don’t think you should call national emergencies unless there truly is a national emergency. There’s no national emergency at our border. He’s frustrated because he can’t even convince his own party to support his requests.
WAGNER: Last night, when the President sort of maybe takes credit for the fact that there are an historic number of women in Congress, what did you think of that moment?
CLINTON: Well, anybody who knows anything about the midterm elections knows that these were incredible candidates who ran largely against the agenda that he has stood for. And the result was we had all of these women who were wearing white elected…
WAGNER: The white pantsuits.
CLINTON: …to the Congress, I loved it!
WAGNER: Which, I might say is a trend.
CLINTON: Yes. I’m for it.
WAGNER: I feel like you sort of set the wheels in motion for that.
CLINTON: I’m for it.
WAGNER: You’re for it.
CLINTON: So I think that, you know, the, the women spoke for themselves. They were eloquent in their facial expressions and their reactions. And now I think, okay, the State of the Union is over, let’s get to work.
