ORONO, Maine - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she took “deep offense” at comments by an MSNBC anchor about her daughter Chelsea’s role in her campaign and said she still had not decided whether to participate in a debate sponsored by the network later this month.
“I am a mom first and a candidate second and I found the remarks incredibly offensive,” Clinton said at a news conference on Saturday at the University of Maine. ”I have sent a letter to the head of NBC expressing the deep offense that I took.”
She was referring to a remark from MSNBC’s David Shuster, who questioned on Thursday whether Chelsea was “sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way” by the campaign because she was making calls to voters and giving speeches advocating for her mother.
MSNBC said in a statement on Friday that Shuster had apologized to the Clintons on-air for the remark and was suspended from broadcasts except to make the apology, but Clinton suggested in her letter to MSNBC that the cable network should go further to make amends.
“Nothing justifies the kind of debasing language that David Shuster used and no temporary suspension or half-hearted apology is sufficient,” she said in the letter.
Pressed on whether she would participate in the debate that will be hosted by the network on Feb. 26, Clinton said: ”We’re going to wait and see how this plays out.”
Asked for a reaction to Clinton’s comments, the network said it stood by its earlier statement which also included MSNBC’s own apology.
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Clinton greets supporters at a town hall meeting in Maine)
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What goes around comes around
- Posted by DebI agree that it was a tasteless remark and he should be called on it, but I don’t think that it was offenseive enough for Hillary to be demanding he loose his job. I think that the vast majority of Americans were much more offended by President Clinton’s getting serviced by an intern. It is funny how she is being all high and mighty about the MSNBC remark but she thinks it is alright to carry on like that when you are the leader of the free world. There are people getting fired and loosing retirement benefits over ill thought out remarks and tasteless e-mails but Bill didn’t loose a thing after his disgusting actions. If Hillary gets in office is she going to throw a fit everytime someone says something she doesn’t like.
- Posted by debraDavid Shusters remark was not out of line at all. The term “Pimped Out” has been used in this country for many years meaining going out to do someone elses bidding. Of course Chelsea was going out to support her mom. It would be a bigger story if she didn’t campaign for her. To call for a reporters dismissal is ludacris. What is next, will Hillary cry again? Please keep the nuclear weapons button away from this unstable woman.
- Posted by Bill LoweryIf you can’t stand the heat, get out of the fire.
- Posted by mikeDavid Shuster made a mistake, but he should not lose his job over it. Others have made worse mistakes. “Pimped” today means less than it did in my day. Look it up…..it means in today’s slang world “to use for one’s own gain or benefit” and that is exactly what the Clinton campaign was trying to do. Not that any thing is wrong with trying to get votes using the daughter of the candidate, but the Clinton’s have always sheltered Chelsea and when they throw her out in the public they have to expect her to draw attention and comments. Even I knew what David was trying to say and I am an old grandma. I only hope that MSNBC will not be stupid. He is a good reporter and this should not be his legacy. His reporting on the “Scooter” Libby trial was excellent reporting……….all you folks who are offended need to “get over yourselves”. You learn in the “twilight years of life that in the grand scheme of things that this doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. If you want to be righteously indignant then get upset over a war that we were lied into or the fact that the world is warming to the point of melting the artic ice, a national debt that is obscene, and the list goes on and on and on….. When the water is up to your butts and ice burgs floating by your window, you won’t give two hoots in hell what David Shuster said. Got news for you folks, we have all been pimped and not by David. Hang tough Shuster.
- Posted by PatI think Hillary is overreacting. Shuster brought up a legitimate point. His word choice was colorful at best, crude at worst, but the verb “pimp” is more mainstream than it used to be. Jeez, there’s even a TV show called “Pimp My Ride,” and it isn’t about prostitutes. Clinton should lighten up about Chelsea. Such protectiveness made sense during the White House years when Chelsea was just a kid, but she’s a grown-up now. If she’s gonna be out there campaigning for her mom, she better develop a thicker skin. As Mayor Harold Washington once said, politics ain’t beanbag.
- Posted by ScottLGThere are some hateful people in the world, and quite a few of them have chosen to express their hate on this blog. Ugh!
- Posted by Robert M KrausDuring the travail of my most beloved President Clinton in the white house, after he had agreed that he lied to the nation, he said he was sorry and almost all Americans forgave him and he continued his reign without the intended impeachment. Now is also time for the Clintons to forgive a sorry journalist. Please Sister Hillary, don’t ask for David’s head because your vote had sent many innocent Americans and Iraqis to the grave. Don’t ask for his job because your endorsement of senseless war is already causing recession. —– LONG LIVE OUR FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT, LONG LIVE AMERICA “GOD’S OWN COUNTRY”
- Posted by Ben Freeman[...] Secondly… am I the only one who’s surprised this reference was gratuitously made on NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO? Shouldn’t they be talking about tote bags, and library cards, and begging me for money? I mean, they WERE begging me for money this morning, but the dog fighting reference came right out of left field. It was almost as random as the guy from MSNBC calling Chelsea Clinton a prostitute. [...]
- Posted by Quote of the day (erm… week?) < Lead In The PipesWhy Hillary cannot defense herself and her daughet from David Shuster´mouth ?? because she is a woman and white?. I wonder if this would hapenned to a black person……..how media and people would react???
- Posted by CeciliaDavid Shuster deserves a raise. Making an observation which is patently true should not be grounds for the action MSNBC took. I assume they are more worried about losing a stupid debate than offering edgy commentary. Hillary Clinton would sell her child into white slavery to get power. Beware America of what you ask for.
- Posted by LarryThe country didn’t stand for it when Imus did it and they should make light of it now.
- Posted by Donna S.David Shuster should be fired…sorry’s are to easy as Imus found out.
This is coming from an Obama supporter: David Schuster made a very inappropriate comment. He deserves to be fired. I am so tired of the double standards in the media and in this country. Don Imus was fired for his comments merely because they were made about black girls and were “racially insensitive”. Is it OK for Schuster to be offensive because the Clintons are white? Sadly, we have gone too far the other way in this country with our political correctness.
- Posted by BeccaSome clarifications for Lynn..
>And I forgot, Hillary has already beat McCain >pretty good in Florida
Hillary won big in Florida because she campaigned there against the wishes of the party and Barack..did not, hence the vote was not split accurately.
>they say he wouldn’t of voted for the war. He wasn’t able to vote.
Techically correct but very misleading, Obama gave a speech in 2002 publicly denouncing the war, the same time Clinton was voting for it.
Even if he could not vote for it at the time, his opinion was well known.
>My African American friends agree that the media has gone nuts and is generating race problems
- Posted by NathanOk I agree with that, but their not doing it to “assist the Republicans”. Also I doubt your friends are actually from Africa. CNN/MSNBC is just doing it to stir up interest. Fox news, the guys who ARE “assisting the Republicans” have basically agreed with you that not much was said. Same as here.
>the youth are being pulled in
yea…the youth, like me I’m 30, most of the people campaigning with me in SC were 30-40 too.
The other day CNN commented that Obama was getting the youth vote and showed a picture of Marie Shriver…what’s she like 50?
Apparently anyone not a baby boomer is youth or a senior now.
Anyway, the tears.. the outrage.. really?
Do you really want a president who cries and creates drama at the drop of a hat?
Manipulation plain and simple, don’t fall for it. And did anyone else noticed that she pulled this almost immediately after Obama agreed to debate her? Coincidence? Probably not.
I don’t think she believed he would accept since it’s not strategic for him to do so. That again was just a plan to say look he won’t debate me.
My head is spinning already, reminds me of my ex-wife. I would vote for Huckabee first with Chuck Norris as vice.
- Posted by NathanThese news idiots have been hammering Chelsea since she was in high school, and they seem to always get away with it. What Schuster said truly crossed a line and Hillary is right to hold MSNBC to account. I don’t understand why it is so odd to these people that the Clinton’s daughter would work for Hillary’s campaign. I don’t remember people making these kinds of comments about Bush’s daughters or John Kerry’s daughter. Schuster probably just learned a new word and had to use it.
- Posted by KevinAddendum to the above:
- Posted by Connman53It’s interesting how Bush seemed to change his mind about global warming when it became apparent we wouldn’t be getting any of Iraq’s oil.
Gee, without cable you won’t be able to dial into Mister ‘Fair and balanced’…O’Reilly. The real ‘red herring’ in this scenario is the ’security’ issue. Instead of securing our borders and ports, Dubya took us permamently to the Middle East at probably 1000 times the cost. For oil, of course. The government has so many Americans so paranoid over illegal aliens that THEY have decided all Americans need to carry National ID cards.
Someone please explain to me how our carry chip-implanted ID cards keeps us safer.
You’d be better off spending your time writing your congress person and asking for their explanation to this question.
It’s all a crock, the security issue.
Take off your shoes..don’t take off your shoes. You can’t bring that food aboard the plane…now you can. Build a fence, don’t build a fence.
I agree with Ron Paul on this one: eliminate free medical care and other welfare and the problem with take care of itself.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are plenty of serious issues to worry about in this country without crying about somebody who said ‘pimping out’.
- Posted by Connman53I have had it with MSNBC and their biases. Chris Matthews and now Shuster. I have cancelled my cable subscription since yesterday. Can you believe that Fox appears fairer after watching these 2 characters. What a joke MSNBC has become. There will be a collective sense of regret if Hillary is not the nominee because in a general election Obama does not stand a chance. The polls are a red herring. It will be another 4 or 8 years with the Republican President …. because when a push comes to a shaft, the majority of Americans are still deeply concern about security and without Hillary, the only viable democrat on this issue, the Republicans will carry the day.
- Posted by StevenAnd I forgot, Hillary has already beat McCain pretty good in Florida, without even campaigning. Look at the results. They say Florida reflects America.
- Posted by Lynn