CNN's Gregory Ties 'Misogyny,' FBI 'Hatred' to Clinton Loss

May 3rd, 2017 5:30 PM

On Wednesday's New Day, during a discussion of Hillary Clinton's recent interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, CNN political analyst David Gregory implicated "hatred" of Hillary Clinton at the FBI as well as "misogyny" in Clinton's presidential loss as he called FBI director James Comey's behavior "horrendous."

Amanpour also appeared later in the show and implicated misogyny, following up on her question to Clinton on the subject.

CNN co-host Chris Cuomo recalled that Clinton has been criticized for not putting enough blame on herself for the electoral result, and then turned to Gregory for response. Before later putting some of the blame on Clinton's own behavior, Gregory brought up Comey as he began:

I do think that she's right about some of the things that she says. I think what Jim Comey did was to throw overboard Justice Department procedures because of political reasons -- his own internal politics -- because of the hatred for Hillary Clinton within the FBI and because of this delicate balancing act he was trying to pull off with Republicans in Congress principally. And I think that that was a horrendous decision on his part and one that he should and probably does regret.

The former NBC Meet the Press host then implicated "misogyny" and "sexism" as he continued:

I think there was misogyny. And I think we tolerate sexism in this country, whether it's in, you know, the legal profession or corporations or in our politics. So I think that she's onto something there, and we know about the Russia role. But the Comey bit, the Russia bit, it's very difficult to measure. 

Gregory then listed some of Clinton's faults as he concluded his analysis.

As Amanpour appeared as a guest in a later segment, she also complained about bias against women as she recalled her interview with the former Democratic candidate:

But what I do think that was really interesting, particularly in that environment, was her take on women, was that -- the misogyny. And Alisyn and myself, we can both sit here and say, you know, no matter how top of our game we are, there is an underlying issue with women -- certainly women who seek the highest offices, certainly the women who have the temerity to demand equal pay for equal play, certainly with these structures of society, as they are, you know, laid out right now.

Below are transcripts of relevant portions of the Wednesday, May 3, New Day on CNN:

6:06 a.m. ET

CHRIS CUOMO: The after autopsy by the Democrats go to what Errol is saying. That's what they say. They also say she was a flawed candidate, and when she took responsibility in that interview with Christiane, she did so by saying, "Did I make mistakes? Yeah." But she didn't name any. And she said, "I was the candidate -- I was the one on the ballot, so, yeah, I take responsibility." But you didn't hear her call herself out. You heard her call out Comey, Russia, WikiLeaks, and Trump.

DAVID GREGORY: Well, so, I've got a few thoughts about this. First, I do think that she's right about some of the things that she says. I think what Jim Comey did was to throw overboard Justice Department procedures because of political reasons -- his own internal politics -- because of the hatred for Hillary Clinton within the FBI and because of this delicate balancing act he was trying to pull off with Republicans in Congress principally. And I think that that was a horrendous decision on his part and one that he should and probably does regret.

I think there was misogyny. And I think we tolerate sexism in this country, whether it's in, you know, the legal profession or corporations or in our politics. So I think that she's onto something there, and we know about the Russia role. But the Comey bit, the Russia bit, it's very difficult to measure. 

I think she doesn't give us honesty about what -- the terrible judgments that she made with regard to the email server, the fact that she misread the mood of the country, the fact that Republicans came home for Donald Trump when she and many others didn't feel that they would. So we're going to get more presumably in the book. I think this was a part of it, but I don't think she's forthcoming in a way that she should have been in taking some real responsibility for the fact that she was not what the country wanted, what enough of the electorate wanted to make her President.

(...)

6:23 a.m. ET

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: But what I do think that was really interesting, particularly in that environment, was her take on women, was that -- the misogyny. And Alisyn and myself, we can both sit here and say, you know, no matter how top of our game we are, there is an underlying issue with women -- certainly women who seek the highest offices, certainly the women who have the temerity to demand equal pay for equal play, certainly with these structures of society, as they are, you know, laid out right now.