Clinton campaign Senior Spokeswoman Kareny Finney said that she thinks Hillary Clinton “hasn’t actually seen the videos” on Planned Parenthood released by the Center for Medical Progress and stated that she disagreed with the notion that officials who defended Planned Parenthood without having watched the whole videos were making themselves vulnerable on Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live.”
After Finney criticized Republicans for wanting to defund Planned Parenthood, anchor Thomas Roberts asked, “people are having a visceral reaction to watching these undercover Planned Parenthood videos. Do you know, has Hillary Clinton watched them in full and does she have a reaction to that? Because, in coming out against Jeb Bush about his statement about women’s healthcare and funding, it is tethered to Planned Parenthood, it’s tethered to those videos, so is she making a case for herself basically defending those videos?”
Finney answered, “Well, let’s be clear. I mean, she was actually asked that same question, and she answered, she actually I think said that she’s seen images or pictures, but she hasn’t actually seen the videos.” She continued, “This is exactly what the group behind these videos is trying to do in terms of conflating the issue. We are talking about defunding Planned Parenthood, we are talking about taking away healthcare from, what is it? 2.7 million people who utilized their services just last year. And I understand why they want to –.”
Roberts then cut in, “you make yourself vulnerable, and Hillary Clinton makes herself vulnerable, President Obama makes himself vulnerable, Josh Earnest makes himself vulnerable. If you don’t look at these videos in full context, but then come out in defense of them saying, ‘Well, I’ve seen clips,’ or ‘I’ve seen a small portion.'”
Finney responded, “Thomas, under what you’re suggesting, then we should be saying, ‘You know what, we shouldn’t’ — I mean, to what — and also to what Jeb Bush was saying, so we shouldn’t be spending money on breast examinations, or HIV/AIDs tests, or birth control. That’s what Planned Parenthood does. That is the majority of the work that they do. And I think what part — there’s been a visceral reaction to this attack, frankly, on Planned Parenthood. In your own poll, Wall Street Journal/NBC News, Planned Parenthood, most popular organization, above all the politicians, above the NRA. So, you know, I have to tell you something, Thomas. i think this is part of why Hillary Clinton’s right to take the issue on. People feel very strongly about Planned Parenthood, and that is something that’s not going to change. They’re going to be listening for, who is the person that is going to look out for me and my family, and help us get ahead and stay ahead. That’s about healthcare. That is about things like paid family leave. It’s about things like making sure the Affordable Care Act doesn’t go away, and those resources are here for us. I mean — so I think that’s going to be a very important debate in this election. I think that’s part of why Hillary wanted to be out there ,and making it clear that she supports women’s health and it’s not just — it can’t just be an afterthought.”
Thomas complimented the point Finney made about Planned Parenthood’s “extensive work,” but continued, “when we have policymakers getting out in front of defending certain things about what they’re being attacked over, and not having seen, in full context, what the videos represent, I think it makes a vulnerability for those people that are out there trying to defend it.” Finney answered, “We just have to agree to disagree on that.”
(h/t RNC Research)
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