CNN commentator Gloria Borger said Wednesday on Wolf that Hillary Clinton "stepped in it" with her sharp criticism of President Obama's foreign policy in a recent interview with The Atlantic.
Clinton's sharp words included clear distinctions between her and Obama on Syria, Iran, and Israel. She also rejected the maligned "Don't do stupid stuff" theme for Obama foreign policy, saying that was not an "organizing principle."
Wolf Blitzer pointed out the obvious: Clinton is trying to distance herself from an increasingly unpopular president whose approval rating is down in every area, particularly in foreign policy. Clinton is attending a party later Wednesday in Martha's Vineyard where Obama is vacationing, however, and she said she will "hug it out" with the president.
"I think she's well aware that she stepped in it," Borger said. " She had in her book said that there were differences with the president on Syria, but what she did was she took a policy difference and she made it personal. Calling Syria a policy of failure, and then, of course, David Axelrod, his former aide, tweeted something that people in the White House were saying privately, which is don't do stupid stuff means stuff like occupying Iraq in the first place ... So I think lots of hurt feelings here she's got to try and fix."
Borger said Clinton's criticism of Obama could cause her problems down the line with the left-wing base of the Democratic Party, who espouse Obama's views on foreign affairs.
"Reminding the base of the Democratic Party that she's that different from President Obama may not serve her well," Borger said.
Blitzer said the new feud between the two reminded him of the "friction" and "tension" between the two when they ran for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, where Clinton and Obama clashed repeatedly in debates and the press. Borger said Clinton's words in her latest interview were "demeaning" toward Obama.
"This is the kind of thing, when you take a policy dispute and you disparage the president and you kind of make it personal, which I would argue she did, it can backfire on you, and I do believe that people in the White House are very upset about this," Borger said. "This kind of an interview is something I don't think they expected, particularly with the wording she used."