The panel of MSNBC’s Morning Joe criticized Hillary Clinton on Wednesday for her "weird" attempt to explain how she came to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline at Tuesday’s debate.
"I never took a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone," Clinton said.
Meet the Press host Chuck Todd compared this tautology to John Kerry’s awkward explanation of his reversal on the Iraq War during the 2004 presidential election.
"This weird answer she gave on Keystone where she said ‘I didn’t take a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone. …Okay. That was a little Kerry-esque," Todd said.
"Why don't we put that in the John Kerry ‘I voted for it before I voted against it’ category," Scarborough said.
On an otherwise successful evening, Clinton was criticized for her seemingly-expedient change of heart on important policy issues.
"Will you say anything to get elected?" CNN host Anderson Cooper asked.
Clinton recently came out in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that has drawn the ire of environmental activists.
In 2010, then-Secretary of State Clinton said the State Department was "inclined to" sign off on the pipeline deal. The State Department later published studies of the pipeline downplaying its impact on carbon emissions.
Clinton’s reversal can be seen as an effort to shore up support with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which has inclined toward candidates like socialist Bernie Sanders who have spoken out loudly and moralistically about Keystone XL and climate change.
Transcript below:
CHUCK TODD: That and this weird answer she gave on Keystone, where she said ‘I didn’t take a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone. …Okay. That was a little Kerry-esque."
(ANDERSON COOPER): You were against same-sex marriage now you’re for it. You had defended President Obama’s immigration policies, now you say they’re too harsh. You supported his trade deal dozens of times, you even called it the gold standard, now suddenly you’re against it. Will you say anything to get elected?
(HILLARY CLINTON): I've been consistent. I've always fought for the same values and principals but like most human beings, I do absorb new information, I do look at what's happening in the world. I did say when I was secretary of state three years ago that I hoped it would be the gold standard. It was just finally negotiated last week, and in looking at it it didn’t meet my standard.
Everybody on this stage has changed a position or two. We’ve been around, cumulatively, quite some period of time. You know, we know that if you're learning you're going to change your position. I never took a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Why don't we put that in the John Kerry ‘I voted for it before I voted against it’ category.