The Washington Post secured an exclusive interview this week with Hillary Clinton, making it the first time that the presumed Democratic nominee has agreed to speak with the paper since she launched her campaign in April 2015.
But while the Post has been one of the loudest and most persistent critics of Clinton’s lack of media availability, the paper didn’t appear all that interested this week in taking full advantage of its opportunity with the presumptive Democratic nominee. Rather than pressing Clinton with questions about the ongoing FBI investigation surrounding her private emails, or pushing her to speak on the Clinton Foundation’s questionable donors, the Post’s Anne Gearan used much of her 10 minutes with the Democratic candidate to ask about emotions and reactions.
“You sounded reflective, I mean, maybe almost quiet at the start of your remarks last night. It must have been pretty emotional,” the Post reporter said at the beginning of their phone interview Wednesday, referring to Clinton’s multiple primary victories the night before. “What will you remember most and if you’ve thought about it, what do you think you’ll tell [granddaughter] Charlotte about last night when she’s old enough to hear about it from you?”
Clinton responded by saying it was a “great question,” and said Tuesday evening was an overwhelming experience.
Gearan then asked in reference to an interview Clinton gave ABC News Tuesday, “Did you actually end up choking up? You appeared to get through it without delay.”
“I worked really hard at that. And particularly, I practiced the part about my mother several times because I teared up every time I practiced it,” Clinton responded. “And I tried to get myself so that I could be, you know, a little more used to saying it. And it still was for me personally one of the most extraordinary and meaningful public experiences I’ve ever had.”
Gearan decided after that to move on and to speak a bit more about politics and the general election. The other questions the Post asked in its first interview with Clinton since she announced her White House bid last year included:
- “Do you think Donald Trump is a racist?”
- “What do you think it will take to fully include Bernie Sanders in your candidacy and your campaign? Is it important in your view to make him and his supporters feel like they’ve won even as he’s lost?”
- “Are you concerned that he’ll be less than a full partner in that effort as you were with President Obama in 2008?”
- “Do you think you would favor resisting, excuse me, revisiting the role of superdelegates or reducing the role of superdelegates in future elections?”
- “What does it say about the country at this moment that both you and Donald Trump have the highest negatives of any major party nominees in probably our lifetimes, if not more? And specifically, what does that say about you as you start this head-to-head contest with him?”
- “You spoke last week and again since then about rejecting the politics of fear in this election. But in a way, are you not running a campaign of fear yourself — just the fear of Donald Trump?”
It wasn’t until the very end of the interview, after a Clinton aide had already cut in to let the Post know that it had run over its allotted interview time, that Gearan mentioned the letters, “F,” “B” and “I.”
“I could ask you very super quickly about the FBI interview. Has it been scheduled and would you like to get it over with?” the reporter asked.
“It has not, and I certainly would like to see this wrapped up,” Clinton said with a laugh as she ended the interview.
