Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt fielded questions from host Joe Scarborough about his paper’s endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Scarborough cited the newspaper’s own polling and comments from Colin Powell which may lead some to question Clinton’s judgment.
“So Fred, that actually is a surprising endorsement coming from a paper that along with ABC had a poll that 55 percent of Americans thought she should have been indicted,” Scarborough said. “As Colin Powell says, I would paraphrase, messes things up with her arrogance – goes in and has made a series of missteps through the years. Are you not concerned at all, even endorsing her – should you not provide a caveat to your readers about her poor judgment in the past and hope that gaining ultimate power doesn’t create ultimate problems?”
Hiatt said there were judgment questions, but not in the way Scarborough laid them out. According to the editorial page editor, Clinton was “a better person in government” than a politician.
“Yes, we do provide a caveat but not exactly the one you say,” Hiatt replied. “There’s no doubt she is unpopular … on her judgment, there’s a concern she has a tendency to circle the wagons and not be as forthcoming when there is a crisis. But in our judgment, her service in public office is that she’s a much better person in government than she is a politician.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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