Hillary Clinton only took four questions during a mini-press conference on Monday. Yet, a Bloomberg journalist still managed to lob a softball, wondering if ISIS may favor the “easy” Trump and is trying to “drive” voters away from Hillary Clinton.
Bloomberg Politics correspondent Jennifer Epstein wondered, “Are you concerned that this weekend's attacks or potential incidents in the coming weeks might be an attempt by ISIS or ISIS sympathizers or, really, any other group, maybe the Russians, to influence the presidential race in some way?”
She added, “And presumably try to drive votes to Donald Trump who, as you said before, widely seen as perhaps being somebody who they would be more willing to — or see as an easier person to be against?”
After first saying that she doesn’t want to “speculate,” Clinton attacked, “I think it's important for voters to hear this and weigh it in making their choice in November. We know that a lot of the rhetoric we’ve heard Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular.”
Epstein has a history of asking Clinton the easy questions. On September 6, she wondered, “Do you think that you are held to a different standard than he is by the media and by voters cause it seems like a lot of voters don’t actually care.”
Unsurprisingly, Clinton deemed this an “good question.”
A transcript of the four questions from the press conference can be found below:
Place for Politics
9/19/16QUESTION: The person of interest in this case is an Afghan now immigrant, U.S. citizen. What do you say to voters who may see this as a reason to consider supporting Trump's approach to terror and immigration?
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QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, the White House has labeled these lone wolf attacks a top concern and given these weekend's events, what more specifically should be done and what would you do specifically beyond what President Obama has done? Is the current plan enough?<<< Please consider helping NewsBusters financially with your tax-deductible contribution today >>>
...JENNIFER EPSTEIN: Are you concerned that this weekend's attacks, or potential incidents in the coming weeks, might be an attempt by ISIS or ISIS sympathizers or, really, any other group, maybe the Russians, to influence the presidential race in some way? And presumably try to drive votes to Donald Trump who, as you said before, widely seen as perhaps being somebody who they would be more willing to — or see as an easier person to be against?
CLINTON: Well, Jennifer, I don't want to speculate but here's what we know. And I think it's important for voters to hear this and weigh it in making their choice in November. We know that a lot of the rhetoric we’ve heard Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS.
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NANCY CORDES:: Secretary Clinton, as you know, Donald Trump has had a lot to say about your record on this issue over the weekend. Here's one more example. “Under the leadership of Obama and Clinton, Americans have experienced more attacks at home than victories abroad. Time to change the playbook.” What's your reaction to that characterization?
