NBC’s McFadden Reads Hillary Her Own Book: ‘Evidence...Why I Think You Are Actually Running for President’

Hillary Clinton sat down with NBC’s Cynthia McFadden for an interview which aired on NBC Nightly News on Tuesday, June 10 to promote her new book Hard Choices. While the NBC reporter brought up sensitive issues such as Benghazi, when the subject turned to Clinton’s potential presidential bid, McFadden proved to be nothing more than a Hillary sycophant. 

The first thing that aired from the interview was McFadden gushing “I know you say you haven't made up your mind, but I'm going to give you the evidence from your book why I think you actually are running for President.”

McFadden introduced the interview by hyping: “Her hardest choice she tells me Brian, was going against the advice of other cabinet members and urging the President to move forward with the attack that killed Osama Bin Laden. Her next hard choice? Whether to run for President.”

The NBC reporter proceeded to read straight from Hard Choices and noted that the passage was “in the context of your mother’s death...Writing about her, “what she would say is never rest on your laurels, never quit, never stop working to make the world a better place. That is our unfinished business.”’ 

McFadden’s gushing over Hillary Clinton followed a similar tone to when she interviewed the former Secretary of State in January of 2013. The NBC Reporter practically begged Clinton to run for president and asked "That you might be the person who could actually break through that glass ceiling and become the first female president of this country, would you feel a certain obligation to seize that mantle?" 

See relevant transcript below. from the June 10 NBC Nightly News:

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Back in this country, Hillary Clinton continues to make headlines, including what she said in an interview with our own Cynthia McFadden, who spoke with the former Secretary of State at her New York office yesterday, the first time she's allowed cameras on a tour. Cynthia is here in the studio joining us once again. Cynthia, good evening. 

CYNTHIA MCFADDEN: Good evening, Brian. Well, critics say her tenure as Secretary of State was devoid of singular accomplishments. Hillary Clinton gives herself an "A" in the job. Her hardest choice she tells me Brian, was going against the advice of other cabinet members and urging the president to move forward with the attack that killed Osama Bin Laden. Her next hard choice? Whether to run for president. I know you say you haven't made up your mind, but I'm going to give you the evidence from your book why I think you actually are running for president. 

HILLARY CLINTON: Okay.

MCFADDEN: It's in the context of your mother's death. 

CLINTON: Oh, right. 

MCFADDEN: Writing about her, “what she would say is never rest on your laurels, never quit, never stop working to make the world a better place. That is our unfinished business.” 

CLINTON: It is our unfinished business, but I think there's more than one way to finish the business. 

MCFADDEN: One way, she says, is to continue her work at the foundation her husband started. Is this your hall? This corridor here, is this your initiative? 

CLINTON: Yes, these are the people who are working directly with me. 

MCFADDEN: Barbara Bush recently said there should be people besides Bushes and Clintons who run for president. 

CLINTON: Don't you just love her? She's just so outspoken and just lays it on the line. Thankfully this is still a free country, and despite all of the obstacles to running for president, anybody can. 

MCFADDEN: I want to know what makes it a hard choice. What’s on the other side? What's against running for president? 

CLINTON: I have been on this high-wire of American politics and then American diplomacy for more than 20 years. I am about to become a grandmother in the fall, which I know is going to change my life. I don't know how I'm going to feel about that. I want to feel the feelings around becoming a grandmother. I don't want to be focused on something two years away. I want to be focused on this baby right in front of me. I love my life right now. 

MCFADDEN: Is being in the midst of all the politics of it, is that a factor? 

CLINTON: It is a factor. I think anybody who says it isn't either has never done it or may b e trying to downplay it. It is. Our politics right now are very contentious, very dysfunctional. 

— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter.