If you think cable news coverage of Hillary Clinton couldn't possibly get any greater some two-and-a-half years before a presidential election that she may not even run in, well, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Clinton's memoir Hard Choices drops next week, and on Friday Politico posted a story on her chapter regarding Benghazi. In the chapter, Mrs. Clinton casts aspersions on congressional Republicans who have already scheduled another hearing into the death the incident in Libya that resulted in the death of four Americans, writing that "It’s just plain wrong, and it’s unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me."
On Fox News Sunday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said it's Clinton who's playing politics, and said that her failure to appear on the Sunday morning talk shows after the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens "disqualified" her from running for president.
"Hillary has been playing politics with this since the beginning, and she is launching an organized political defense," Preibus told host Chris Wallace. "Their people are trying to preempt or stop any more criticism that she’s been receiving on Benghazi."
"She played a part in the White House’s cover up of what this is all about in Benghazi. It was a terrorist attack. Our heroes and diplomats have died and were murdered, and she continues to play politics,” he added. “Hillary Clinton is politics 24-7, and this is no different.”
Priebus also said that in the Sunday after the September 11, 2012 attack, Clinton should have appeared on the Sunday morning talk shows rather than sending National Security Adviser Susan Rice. Rice, who was the United Nations ambassador at that time, has said that Clinton was too exhausted from the "grueling" week to go on the shows.
Priebus said Clinton "failed to report for duty" by not appearing personally. "If she's even thinking about running for president, I think she has been disqualified because of her actions here," he said.
Wallace suggested that Priebus' attacks were so intense because he fears that she could best any Republican in 2016 and keep the White House in Democratic hands for four more years.
Shortly after Priebus' appearance, a Democratic Party spokesman blasted his remarks.
"The Obama Administration and Democrats are focused on making sure a tragedy like what happened in Benghazi never happens again. Republicans are obsessed with playing politics with that tragedy just to rally their far-right base," said DNC spokesman Michael Czin.
"The fact is that there have already been 7 investigations into Benghazi, 25,000 documents have been provided and more than a dozen hearings held," Czin added. "While Republicans want to spend more time investigating what they have already investigated, they are refusing to act on important legislative priorities that will help grow the middle class, like paycheck fairness, raising the minimum wage or passing comprehensive immigration reform."