Dead broke candidate thinks $150K donation is "not very much money"

When running a campaign where your base wants to hear about how you will eat the rich and put the 1% in their proper place, the wealthy truly have to learn to tread carefully. With that in mind, somebody over at Hillary Headquarters might want to suggest that when the subject of money comes up during interviews or debates, their candidate should just pretend she has a foot cramp and change the subject. It seems that every time Hillary Clinton opens her mouth on the subject of cash lately, her foot winds up halfway down her throat. When she was asked this week about why some of the biggest investment bankers in the world gave her $675K, all she could muster was to say, well that’s what they offered. That came long after he famous comments about her and Bill being dead broke when they left the White House.

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Now she’s been asked about how tough she’ll be on the big energy companies when some of them gave her $150K in donations. Her answer in this instance really wasn’t much more brilliant than her last few attempts. (Daily Caller)

Video has emerged of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton telling an anti-fossil fuels activist on the campaign trail in Dover, N.H. on Wednesday that the $150,000 she has received in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry “is not very much” money.

Clinton, who once came under fire for claiming that she was “dead broke” after leaving the White House in 2001, first claimed ignorance about the donations when an activist with the environmental group 350 Action asked her whether she would be willing to “take a stand against any more campaign contributions” from Big Oil. Clinton’s Democratic challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has pledged not to accept money from the industry.

“Yeah, I don’t even know what you’re referring to, but big oil knows I’m not their friends, so they must have put it in the wrong envelope,” Clinton responded.

They must have put it in the wrong envelope? And you kept the money anyway even though you suspected that it was intended for somebody else? I’m no lawyer, but that sounds like mail fraud to me. Of course, the FBI might not get around to that case until they finish up with your secret bathroom server.

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But seriously, is this a big deal with her base? Sure, Bernie Sanders will hit her over it, assuming anyone tells him about the video, but her hard Left voters likely won’t be too happy either. If you need proof of that, just look where the criticism is coming from. I don’t mean me or any writers at the Daily Caller here. Clinton is getting knocked by Greenpeace.

If your reaction to the idea of $150,000 from fossil fuel interests not being much is ‘sorry, WHAT?’ you are not alone…

It’s great that Hillary has been so vocal about taking down fossil fuels. But until she rejects money from the fracking industry, big oil, and other fossil fuel interests, how will she make voters believe that she means business?

Soon after claiming that she would “stop fossil fuels” if elected, Hillary admitted that she would not ban fracking as president. The fracking industry, it should be noted, donates more to her campaign than any other fossil fuel interest.

World events have largely knocked energy and environmental issues out of the headlines this cycle, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Clearly Sanders can break out his banjo and sing some protest songs with the best of them, so the folks at Greenpeace are probably swooning already. But will the anti-energy vote really be influential this November? More to the point, will they get any traction in the primary? If so, Bernie may have yet another opening to hit Clinton from the left and begin gaining some traction nationally. I’m not holding my breath for that, but you never know.

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More to the point, we have yet another example of Clinton being completely tone deaf when it comes to the sensitive issue of big money among her base. She’s never going to be half the natural politician her husband was and this just drives that point home further.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 21, 2024
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