MSNBC reporter Andrea Mitchell slammed Hillary Clinton's campaign for its "pretty shocking" memo that it "defensively" released in anticipation of losing to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in New Hampshire.
Sanders, as predicted by the polls, defeated Clinton there Tuesday night, with networks making the calls just moments after the final polls closed.
PBS reported on the memo:
Hours before official New Hampshire results appeared Tuesday, Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook conceded to staffers, supporters and some reporters that the Granite State race was lost, in a memo obtained by PBS NewsHour that urged the Clinton team to focus past February and on March.
"The first four states represent just 4% of the delegates needed to secure the nomination," Mook wrote, "The 28 states that vote (or caucus) in March will award 56% of the delegates needed to win."
The Democratic Party is "completely splintered," Mitchell said.
"Hillary Clinton had the Democratic Party establishment," Mitchell said. "She still has their endorsements, but he has out-raised her in January. He now will have a ton of money on those online contributions in February, and the Clinton team anticipated this with this three-page memo."
Host Rachel Maddow interrupted to say that the memo "shocked" her.
"Is this normal?" Maddow asked.
"No, this is pretty shocking because it is a three-page memo from the campaign manager defensively explaining how they can come back and win the nomination in March with the delegate-rich first 15 days in March," Mitchell said, her voice hardened.
Mitchell added she'd had it for a half-hour, showing the campaign pre-emotively wrote it in anticipation of losing to Sanders.
"Embargoed until 8:00," Maddow said. "They knew they were going to lose."