How good is Hillary Clinton at delivering a straightforward, sincere, no-strings attached apology? Or acknowledging political missteps or perceived conflicts of interest, transparently?
You be the judge – here’s a list of Clinton scandals (by no means complete) and how long it took Mrs. Clinton to issue a mea culpa, or any type of response, and what exactly it was.
Email Server:
Days to apology: 6 months
Initial Apology: “Well, I certainly wish that I had made a different choice, and I know why the American people have questions about it. And I want to make sure I answer those questions, starting with the fact that my personal e-mail use was fully above board. It was allowed by the State Department, as they have confirmed. But in retrospect, it certainly would have been better.I take responsibility.” – Hillary Clinton to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Sept. 4, 2015
Apology Redux: “I want you to hear this directly from me. Yes, I should have used two email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I’m sorry about it, and I take full responsibility.” – Hillary Clinton via Facebook post Sept. 8, 2015
Clinton Foundation:
Days to apology: No apology (yet)
Initial Response: “As you all know, it’s the political season in America, so the purpose and impact of the efforts your support makes possible has largely been ignored in recent coverage of the Foundation.” – Bill Clinton in letter to Clinton Foundation donors May 29, 2015
Response to direct questioning: “Well, let me start by saying I am so proud of The Clinton Foundation. I am proud of the work that my husband started, that my daughter continued. I’m proud of the very small role I played in being there for about a year and a half.” – Hillary Clinton to CNN’s Brianna Keilar, July 7, 2015
Benghazi:
Days to apology: 1 month
Apology: “I take responsibility.” – Hillary Clinton to CNN’s Elise Labbott, October 15, 2012
Apology Redux: “My biggest, you know, regret is what happened in Benghazi. It was a terrible tragedy, losing four Americans, two diplomats and now it’s public, so I can say two CIA operatives, losing an ambassador like Chris Stevens, who was one of our very best and had served in Libya and across the Middle East and spoke Arabic. You make these choices based on imperfect information. And you make them to — as we say, the best of your ability. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be unforeseen consequences, unpredictable twists and turns.” – Hillary Clinton in a Q&A with the National Automotive Dealers Association, Sept. 2013
Untrue Story of Landing in Bosnia Under Sniper Fire:
Days to apology: 3 months
Initial Apology:”It is possible in the most recent instance in which she discussed this that she misspoke in regard to the exit from the plane, but there is no question if you look at contemporaneous accounts that she was going to a potential combat zone, that she was on the front lines.” – Howard Wolfson, Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman to reporters on March 24, 2008
Apology Redux: “I did make a mistake in talking about it, you know, the last time and recently.” Mrs. Clinton said she had a “different memory” about the landing. “So I made a mistake. That happens. It proves I’m human, which, you know, for some people, is a revelation.” – Mrs. Clinton to reporters in a campaign stop in Pennsylvanian March 25, 2008 according to a Reuters report
Vote to Authorize War in Iraq:
Days to acknowledge misstep: 6 years
On 2008 campaign trail: “If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or who has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from,” Mrs. Clinton in a 2008 campaign stop in New Hampshire.
Acknowledgement: “I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn’t alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple.” – Hillary Clinton in book “Hard Choices” published in 2014
Whitewater:
Days to apology or to acknowledge misstep: ??
Initial Response: “I do feel like I’ve always been a fairly private person leading a public life. I’ve always believed in a zone of privacy. And I told a friend the other day that I feel, after resisting for a long time, I’ve been rezoned.”
“This is not a long-term problem or issue in any way. But I don’t want anybody to have the wrong impressions of either of us.” – Hillary Clinton in a 1994 Whitewater press conference
Two years later:
“We took every document we had, which again I have to say were not many. We laid them all out, but the New York Times was getting many documents; they were getting many stories. They were getting, you know, accusations from other people. So when they would ask us a follow-up question, we’d have to say, we don’t know anything about that, and then they would say, well, then, maybe you can’t answer our question.”— Hillary Clinton in a Jan. 15, 1996 interview on Diane Rehm’s WAMU-FM show when she was asked why she didn’t disclose all Whitewater-related documents.
Response Redux: The first lady “mistakenly suggested” the New York Times was provided access to all of the Whitewater-related documents in the possession of the 1992 campaign. Hillary Clinton “believed that the campaign had turned over all the documents in its possession” but had since learned that “some records were withheld.” – White House Press statement five days after Diane Rehm’s interview
• Kelly Riddell can be reached at kriddell@washingtontimes.com.
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