NBC News continued hitting possible Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush as being “in damage control mode” on Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News regarding comments he made to the Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly in an interview that aired on Monday night.
In a change from a similar segment that aired earlier Tuesday on Today, correspondent Kristen Welker made no mention of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in relation to both her vote for the Iraq war as a U.S. Senator and her refusal to sit down for a full interview since declaring her candidacy.
Interim anchor Lester Holt touted in one of the program’s opening teases that Bush was in “damage control” and “facing a firestorm of criticism, including from within his own party” as he “trie[d] to clear things up about what he just said about the Iraq War.”
Welker began her report by hyping the former Republican Florida Governor as being “under fire” for saying this to Kelly when asked if he would have still invaded Iraq if he knew what’s known now: “I would have, and so have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody and so would have almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got.”
Welker added that “[t]he Bush camp went into damage control mode early today” with supporter and former aide Ana Navarro appearing on CNN’s New Day and Bush joining Sean Hannity on his radio show Tuesday afternoon.
Later, the NBC News White House correspondent closed the two-minute-and-four-second segment by noting that the issues of his last name and Iraq comments appear now to be “[a] double edged sword in a race that's wide open.”
While many conservatives and Republicans have taken issue with Bush’s comments and are debating the issues, NBC News has taken a different path when it comes to Hillary Clinton.
In both reports on Tuesday, Welker and NBC News declined to take issue with the fact that Clinton has largely ignored the press as she hasn’t answered a single question from the media in roughly three weeks and responded to only eight questions total since her campaign began on April 12.
If Clinton ever does sit down for an interview, one can only try and express optimism that she will be pressed on any and all of the many scandals surrounding both her and her family.
The relevant portions of the transcript from May 12's NBC Nightly News can be found below.
NBC Nightly News
May 12, 2015
7:00 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Damage Control]
LESTER HOLT: Damage control, facing a firestorm of criticism, including from within his own party, Jeb Bush tries to clear things up about what he just said about the Iraq War.
(....)
7:07 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Damage Control]
HOLT: Tonight, Jeb Bush is in damage control mode, trying to clarify how he answered a question about the war in Iraq, and knowing what we know now, whether he would have authorized the U.S. invasion as his brother former President George W. Bush did. He's facing criticism for his answer, including from some within his own party. Kristen Welker reports.
KRISTEN WELKER: Jeb Bush under fire, after making these controversial comments about the Iraq war on Fox News Monday.
MEGYN KELLY [TO JEB BUSH] [on FNC’s The Kelly File, 05/11/15]: Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion?
JEB BUSH: I would have, and so have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody and so would have almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got.
WELKER: Late today, Bush tried to walk back his remarks.
BUSH [on The Sean Hannity Show]: I interpreted the question wrong, I was talking about “given what people knew then, would you have done it,” rather than knowing what we know now.
(....)
WELKER: The Bush camp went into damage control mode early today, when one of his former aides tried to clarify his comments.
(....)
WELKER: Polls show a majority of Americans and even most Republicans now say the Iraq war wasn't worth it and Bush has tried to previously distance himself from his brother, former President George W. Bush, but that's complicated.
NBC NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR MARK MURRAY: The Iraq war is always going to be a vulnerability for Jeb Bush, but maybe Jeb Bush’s biggest vulnerability has been his last name.
WELKER: A double edged sword in a race that's wide open. Kristen Welker, NBC News, Washington.
