She might not have a future in the White House but she might have one at open mic night.
She might not have a future in the White House but she might have one at open mic night. GINOSPHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES

SHOCKING video has emerged from the same public event in which the former First Lady/New York senator/Madame Secretary/Democratic nominee for President told Recode's Kara Swisher that she would, contrary to the will of the people in general and this people in particular, still like to be president. But the video, in this case, is almost less important than the transcript, which a number of prominent conservatives have been sharing with apparent glee. And it's easy to see why: If you just read the transcript, Clinton looks very, very bad.

Kara Swisher: “Cory Booker
 What do you think about him saying 'kick them in shins,' essentially?”

Hillary Clinton: “That was Eric Holder.”

Swisher: “Oh, Eric Holder, I’m sorry.”

Clinton: “I know they all look alike.”

OKAY HILLARY!!! That's quite the bold and racist statement from someone who still apparently wants to be president and isn't a member of the GOP. But now watch the video....

See?? It's a JOKE. She was KIDDING. And not at the expense of black people but at the expense of Kara Swisher, who clearly deserved a little ribbing for confusing Cory Booker and Keith Ellison. I watched this video just a few hours after publicly declaring that Hillary should give up her dream of being president and open a yarn store, and I almost changed my mind about her presidential prospects after seeing it. It was funny!! She is funny!! And yet, as this got passed around online, both her intent (to make fun of Kara Swisher) and the impact (the audience laughed) were completely stripped from the situation and what we got were tweets like this:


And this....


And this...


And this...


And this...


What can we learn from this episode? A couple things. For one, it shows how text alone can radically misconstrue what happens in the world and we should all pivot to unedited video if we want to understand absolute Truth. And two, the only joke conservatives get is the one in the Oval Office.