Phonies? Fox Guest Has To Correct Fox Anchor On Clinton's Catcher In The Rye Comment

Fox News anchor Jon Scott promoted the debunked claim that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused certain women of “whining.” In fact, Clinton was actually talking about the character Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye.

Scott's false claim originated from an interview between Clinton and Marie Claire writer Ayelet Waldman. After Marie Claire released excerpts of the interview, some outlets reported that Clinton was attacking a large percentage of women, or former State Department employee Anne-Marie Slaughter. In response, the State Department released a portion of the interview transcript that clarified what she had said.

Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky corrected Scott on Happening Now, saying, “It turns out, what the Clinton folks are saying is that she wasn't talking about women, she was actually responding to a question about The Catcher in the Rye, and about the protagonist, Holden Caulfield.”

This didn't stop Scott from doubling down. Later in the segment, Scott said, “Julie, let me read you some more of this quote from Secretary Clinton, because it sure doesn't sound like she's talking about Catcher in the Rye.” 

Here is the interview transcript that Foreign Policy's Josh Rogin published:

AYELET WALDMAN:  My daughter was reading Catcher in the Rye, and I said, “Oh, don't you love that book?”  And she said, “What is his problem?  He's unhappy?  He should go volunteer.”

SECRETARY CLINTON:  Good for her.  I like your daughter without even meeting her.  I mean, I think there's so much to that, because I mean, God, I can't stand whining.  I can't stand the kind of paralysis that some people fall into because they are not happy with choices they made.  You live in a time when there are endless choices, and you don't have to have money for them.  Money certainly helps.  I mean, having that kind of financial privilege goes a long way, but you don't even have to have money for it.  But you have to - even, like, work on yourself, learn to play a sport, do something.   

AYELET WALDMAN:  I'm going to tell Sophie that you agree with her.