Mainstream media members have listened to the tapes uncovered by the Washington Free Beacon of Hillary Clinton laughingly discussing a child rapist she defended in the 1970s, and they've come away rather troubled about how they bode for her 2016 presidential prospects.
Both Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough and Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein called her comments "disturbing," with Scarborough's liberal co-host Mika Brzezinski adding there was a "bigger problem" there for Clinton.
The Washington Post's Karen Tumulty questioned the "swagger" and "dismissiveness" of Clinton regarding the emotionally sensitive issue on Andrea Mitchell Reports. On Hardball Tuesday, host Chris Matthews opened the segment about the case coming back to "haunt" Clinton and wondered why she would be laughing about it. Left-wing Salon's Joan Walsh even said she couldn't "sugarcoat" the tape that she admitted was not "fun" to listen to, and fellow MSNBC guest Michelle Bernard said they could be "very problematic" for Clinton.
CNN's Brianna Keilar also stated Clinton's attitude was "bad politics" and could serve to alienate young voters.
Others have seized on her recent remarks on the case to Mumsnet, where she claimed to have been appointed by a local judge to the case and requested to be taken off it. However, in the Roy Reed interview uncovered by reporter Alana Goodman, Clinton said, "The prosecutor called me a few years ago, he said he had a guy who had been accused of rape, and the guy wanted a woman lawyer. Would I do it as a favor for him?"'
The Washington Free Beacon's Andrew Stiles noted the "entire American media establishment" could not be bothered with asking Clinton about the tapes for more than three weeks after they were first published, leaving it to Mumsnet, a British parenting website.
"What she said last week does not appear to be truthful, does it?" Scarborough asked on Morning Joe Tuesday.
"It doesn't serve her well," reporter Mark Halperin replied.
MSNBC's PoliticsNation host Al Sharpton said the tapes would put a dent into Clinton's image as an advocate for women.
"It clearly is not the kind of situation that she wants to have to defend, when you hear in your own voice taking lightly something that speaks to one of your core issues, and that is the value of women," he said.