The Washington Post's David Weigel called out the media for taking Hillary Clinton's comments about her email use on NBC's Meet the Press out of context to portray her as dismissive, criticizing "[t]he media's willingness to believe the worst about Clinton."
Chuck Todd interviewed democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on the September 27 edition of NBC's Meet the Press. Todd later positively characterized her tone during the interview while appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, saying “I spent about 30 minutes with her. Pretty much half of it was on e-mails, which she could have easily been annoyed about, and it was clear she was not.”
In a September 28 post for The Washington Post's The Fix, David Weigel criticized the media's subsequent coverage of the interview, noting that several news outlets had misleadingly framed Clinton's mention of a conspiracy theory during the interview as her “dismiss[ing]” her use of a private email server. Pointing out that her reference to a conspiracy theory was actually “calling back to something Todd said at the start of the interview,” Weigel noted that the mischaracterization of her comment was part of a “long political history” of the “media's willingness to believe the worst about Clinton”:
If you did something productive with your Sunday -- if you went to church, took a nature hike, composted leaves from the back yard, concocted an alibi for the cops -- you may have seen only the headlines about Hillary Rodham Clinton's “Meet the Press” interview. According to those headlines, she dismissed the unkillable scandal over her use of a private e-mail server as a “conspiracy theory.” A sample:
Politico: “Hillary Clinton: 'Another conspiracy theory' ”
The Guardian: “Hillary Clinton dismisses 'conspiracy theory' amid email server controversy”
Townhall: “Hillary Laughs Again, Dismisses Email Scandal as a 'Conspiracy Theory' ”
These headlines are true, insofar as how Clinton used the phrase “conspiracy theory” as she answered one of Chuck Todd's questions. “She is now blaming a 'conspiracy theory' for her sinking poll numbers,” grumbled a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. The “conspiracy theory” quote was even quickly tweeted by the opposition research wizards at America Rising.
What hasn't been mentioned: Clinton was actually calling back to something Todd said at the start of the interview. “I know there's always conspiracy theories out there,” he said knowingly, referring to rumors that Clinton had sat down with him only after some subjects were barred from discussion. He then made absolutely clear: “There are no limitations to this interview.”
Clinton agreed -- “as far as I know, that's true” -- and plowed through seven e-mail questions. Todd wound up the eighth question by asking whether the Democratic presidential front-runner could “respond to an alternative explanation that has sort of been circulating.” Only then did Clinton laugh: “Another conspiracy theory?”
None of this will matter when it comes to the way Clinton is covered, and I already have designated a section of my inbox for the complaints that I am carrying her water here. (Why don't I work for Media Matters? Indeed!) And that's the point. The media's willingness to believe the worst about Clinton, and the long political history it can draw from, has been the single toughest external problem for her campaign.