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Clinton may dump TV network debate
Angered by an MSNBC correspondent's demeaning comment about Senator Hillary Clinton's daughter, aides to her presidential campaign said on Saturday she might pull out of a debate.
- By Peter Nicholas and Matea Gold, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 00:45 February 10, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Chelsea Clinton speaks to supporters on Friday after a campaign event for her mother, Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton, at Bowdoin College in Maine.
Washington: Angered by an MSNBC correspondent's demeaning comment about Senator Hillary Clinton's daughter, aides to her presidential campaign said on Saturday she might pull out of a candidate debate planned by the cable network later this month in Cleveland.
Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director, cast as "beneath contempt" an on-air comment on Thursday by MSNBC's David Shuster, who said that Chelsea Clinton is "sort of being pimped out" as she intensifies her campaigning for her mother.
NBC News announced on Friday afternoon that Shuster had been suspended indefinitely over the remark, which a release termed "irresponsible and inappropriate".
Hostile attitude
Shuster apologised on Friday morning on MSNBC for the term he applied to Chelsea. He issued a second apology on Friday evening on the MSNBC show Tucker, where he had uttered his comment while acting as guest host.
Hillary Clinton's campaign staff has been critical of what it considers a hostile attitude toward her in MSNBC's coverage, and the Shuster incident brought matters to a head.
Clinton is seeking more debates with Sen Barack Obama as their race for the Democratic presidential nomination has tightened, and as part of that strategy she recently agreed to take part in a forum on MSNBC on February 26. But now the prospects for that event are unclear. "I'll say this," Wolfson said.
"We've done a number of debates on that network... And at this point I can't envision a scenario where we would continue to engage in debates on that network." NBC News, in its statement, said it was working to keep the debate alive.
"Our conversations with the Clinton campaign ... continue today and we are hopeful that the event will take place as planned."
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