Members of the press had almost nothing nice to say about Brianna Keilar's exclusive Hillary Clinton interview on CNN Tuesday afternoon, and said Keilar allowed the former secretary of State to get through the appearance without saying anything substantive.
"OK, CNN what exactly was the excuse for giving her this interview instead of Jake [Tapper]?" Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin grumbled.
Keilar questioned Clinton about her tenure at the State Department and the controversy surrounding her use of an unauthorized, private email server. Clinton answered without actually saying anything, reiterating only that she did nothing wrong even after her team deleted thousands of emails that she claimed were "personal."
Keilar did not pursue the topic any further.
"There's a different version of this interview where Brianna Keilar presses Hillary Clinton on the questions until she answers them," said Politico's Dylan Byers.
Later, when Keilar asked about the Clinton Foundation and potential conflicts of interest involving foreign donors, Clinton launched into a lengthy monologue praising the Foundation's efforts to help HIV and AIDS patients.
Keilar neither interrupted Clinton, nor did the CNN reporter pursue the Foundation question any further.
"Today we learned that we learn about as much from Hillary Clinton giving an interview as from Hillary Clinton not giving an interview," said Reason's Peter Suderman.
Keilar finished the interview by asking Clinton which woman she would like to see appear on the ten-dollar bill. Clinton avoided answering even this question, saying only that she would like to see a woman on United States currency.
Keilar also asked the 2016 frontrunner to comment on Saturday Night Live's multiple Hillary Clinton impressions.
National Review's Jim Geraghty was at first optimistic about the interview, but that soon gave way to disappointment.
Republican presidential candidates also weighed in on Clinton's performance, with 2016 contender Carly Fiorina calling it "stunning."
"Stunning … and yet completely unsurprising. Hillary Clinton managed not to answer any substantive questions during that interview. And she wasn't even asked about her track record as secretary of State," the former HP CEO said on her Facebook page.
"If we want to win back the White House in 2016, we need a Republican nominee who won't be afraid to hold Hillary accountable — who will ask her about Benghazi, who will ask her about her conflicts of interest while her family accepted money from countries with business before her, who will ask her why she thought a gimmicky red reset button would dissuade the ambitions of someone like Vladimir Putin," she added.
Prior to the CNN interview, the hosts of Fox News' "Outnumbered" had predicted that it would be a "softball" affair.
"Short of sitting down with [MSNBC host] Chris Matthews I don't know how much easier it's going to get for her," guest contributor Brad Thor said. "You will not see CNN ask her: can you name an accomplishment? Name one thing you did as a senator."
It was not all bad reviews for Keilar, however, as some in the press praised her efforts to pry answers out of the notoriously cagey and tightlipped presidential candidate.
"Kudos [Brianna Keilar] for a top notch [Hillary Clinton] interview," MSNBC's Kasie Hunt said.
Fox's Howard Kurtz added, "CNN's Brianna Keilar asked Hillary good questions on trust and private emails. But she fumbled on the Clinton Foundation. Asking Hillary on CNN only what should happen to foundation if she wins, letting her praise it at length and then moving on."
Keilar, for her part, appeared to walk away from the interview unimpressed with the 2016 contender, saying afterwards that she didn't see a more "open or transparent" Clinton.
On Monday, critics questioned CNN's decision to assign Keilar to the interview after it was revealed that she recently attended the wedding of Adam Parkhomenko, Clinton's current director of grassroots engagement, and Ready for Hillary deputy operations director Kirby Hoag.