Tag: hillary clinton

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Elon Musk Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton slams ‘rotten & creepy’ Elon Musk for threatening Taylor Swift

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Hillary Clinton is out and about this week to promote her latest book, Something Lost, Something Gained. She’s been giving interviews to TV shows, and she also appeared on Kara Swisher’s On podcast. During that conversation with Swisher, Hillary spoke about Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Harris-Walz ticket last week, and the Republican tantrum that followed. Then they got into Elon Musk’s response to Taylor. Musk tweeted: “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.” Again, Musk’s reaction to Taylor endorsing the Democratic ticket was to threaten to impregnate her. Well, Hillary had A LOT to say about that.

The way Clinton sees it, however, Musk’s strange offer to give Swift a child is “kind of another way of saying rape I think.” Swisher agreed. Clinton added that Musk’s post was “rotten and creepy” and added: “I can’t understand why he says what he says. It just is beyond my imagination.”

Clinton noted that for the “so-called masters of the universe in the technology world…misogyny is such a part of their worldview, and they gravitate toward toughness and brutality and machoism. And here’s Taylor Swift, a self-made billionaire who brings joy to people and who imparts life lessons, particularly to girls and women. They can’t stand it.”

One person who can’t stand it is Trump himself, who recently took to his Truth Social platform to write in all caps: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Trump said the day after Swift endorsed Harris for president that she’d “probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.” Clinton told Swisher that Swift allying herself with Harris was always going to “trigger” Trump, and “the fact that it happened right after the debate and just added to Kamala’s momentum must have just set them all off.”

Clinton said that “Taylor Swift brings an unusual impact to an endorsement,” adding: “Her fanbase is so intense and incredibly influenced by her. She’s a singer who charts the course of her life which they relate to as their own lives, but she’s also someone who stood up to a guy who groped her and stood up to get her music back from someone she thought had illegitimately had taken it from her. She has demonstrated a resilience in taking control over her own life that sends a strong message. I’m a huge admirer. I think [her endorsement] has real impact.”

[From Variety]

First of all, it sounds like Hillary is a huge Swiftie. We already knew that she’s part of the Beyhive as well (she’s in awe of Beyonce). As for what she says about Musk, I totally get Hillary’s perspective and I think she’s absolutely right, but I also think there’s another thing which people are sort of missing about Musk’s comments? It wasn’t just about “forcibly impregnating” Taylor, Musk was also implicitly saying that Taylor is a sad, childless woman who can’t find a man, and that Musk would “take one for the team” by impregnating her.

Hillary also called out the media for sanewashing Trump constantly and failing in their duty to cover Trump responsibly:

Hillary Clinton tells #Maddow “I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for the press to have a consistent narrative about how dangerous Trump is.” pic.twitter.com/zsFNcrAcCv

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 17, 2024

Did Elon Musk just threaten to rape Taylor Swift?!? pic.twitter.com/tZjoeNPsbp

— David Leavitt ????????????‍♂️???? (@David_Leavitt) September 11, 2024

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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Hillary Clinton politics

Hillary Clinton mentioned Donald Trump & the DNC crowd chanted ‘Lock Him Up’

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Hillary Clinton spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Night 1. Which shows you how stacked the DNC is with high-quality speakers and “fan favorites,” if you will. Like, if I was organizing this stuff, Hillary would have been a second or third night speaker. But I also understand why she was given a speaking slot on opening night. It was sort of a nostalgic night, with Hillary speaking and then President Biden’s big speech. You could also consider it the “happy warrior” night – the Clintons worked behind the scenes to support President Biden as the nominee, and then when he dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris, the Clintons immediately phased all of their Biden support into supporting Harris.

Hillary’s speech was fantastic, although I think it’s interesting to point out that Hillary is basically the only major Democrat talking about how historic it would be to elect Kamala Harris as president. Hillary’s 2016 campaign leaned into her historic candidacy, the importance of being the first woman presidential nominee, etc. Kamala Harris isn’t doing that. Harris’s thing is… I am President Biden’s legacy, he was a bridge to me, I’m a tough prosecutor and pro-union. It’s interesting from a branding perspective. Here’s Hillary’s speech:

Hillary’s face when the crowd starts chanting “Lock Him Up” after she talked about Donald Trump’s felony convictions!!!

Democrats are chanting “lock him up” during a Hillary Clinton speech. Need a moment to process this. pic.twitter.com/ur0NuYzAOW

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 20, 2024

Hillary also appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night – he’s doing his show in Chicago this week.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Hillary Clinton Kamala Harris politics

Hillary Clinton: ‘It is a trap to believe that progress is impossible’

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Immediately following President Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 election and endorsement of VP Kamala Harris, there were some nasty comments online about how “Hillary Clinton must be furious” or “Kamala will be president and Hillary won’t.” Meanwhile, the Clintons have always been part of KHive and Hillary has always been enormously supportive of VP Harris personally and politically. Once Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election, she knew that she did her part to put cracks in the glass ceiling and that more women would run for office and eventually we will have a woman president. That time is now and Hillary Clinton is 100% on board with Kamala Harris. Bill and Hillary Clinton were fast out of the gate with their endorsement, and now Hillary has written a wonderful New York Times op-ed. Here’s a partial excerpt:

History has its eye on us. President Biden’s decision to end his campaign was as pure an act of patriotism as I have seen in my lifetime. It should also be a call to action to the rest of us to continue his fight for the soul of our nation. The next 15 weeks will be like nothing this country has ever experienced politically, but have no doubt: This is a race Democrats can and must win.

Mr. Biden has done a hard and rare thing. Serving as president was a lifelong dream. And when he finally got there, he was exceptionally good at it. To give that up, to accept that finishing the job meant passing the baton, took real moral clarity. The country mattered more. As one who shared that dream and has had to make peace with letting it go, I know this wasn’t easy. But it was the right thing to do.

Elections are about the future. That’s why I am excited about Vice President Kamala Harris. She represents a fresh start for American politics. She can offer a hopeful, unifying vision. She is talented, experienced and ready to be president. And I know she can defeat Donald Trump.

There is now an even sharper, clearer choice in this election. On one side is a convicted criminal who cares only about himself and is trying to turn back the clock on our rights and our country. On the other is a savvy former prosecutor and successful vice president who embodies our faith that America’s best days are still ahead. It’s old grievances versus new solutions.

Ms. Harris’s record and character will be distorted and disparaged by a flood of disinformation and the kind of ugly prejudice we’re already hearing from MAGA mouthpieces. She and the campaign will have to cut through the noise, and all of us as voters must be thoughtful about what we read, believe and share.

I know a thing or two about how hard it can be for strong women candidates to fight through the sexism and double standards of American politics. I’ve been called a witch, a “nasty woman” and much worse. I was even burned in effigy. As a candidate, I sometimes shied away from talking about making history. I wasn’t sure voters were ready for that. And I wasn’t running to break a barrier; I was running because I thought I was the most qualified to do the job. While it still pains me that I couldn’t break that highest, hardest glass ceiling, I’m proud that my two presidential campaigns made it seem normal to have a woman at the top of the ticket.

Ms. Harris will face unique additional challenges as the first Black and South Asian woman to be at the top of a major party’s ticket. That’s real, but we shouldn’t be afraid. It is a trap to believe that progress is impossible. After all, I won the national popular vote by nearly three million in 2016, and it’s not so long ago that Americans overwhelmingly elected our first Black president. As we saw in the 2022 midterms, abortion bans and attacks on democracy are galvanizing women voters like never before. With Ms. Harris at the top of the ticket leading the way, this movement may become an unstoppable wave.

[From The NY Times]

Hillary was serving up bar after bar in this piece, so much so that I wanted to excerpt even more! But you should just read the whole thing. She’s right about everything – President Biden’s moral clarity, the role she has played in normalizing female candidates running for president and the enormous and chaotic backlash Kamala Harris will face. I love this: “all of us as voters must be thoughtful about what we read, believe and share.” Don’t amplify every dipsh-t hate tweet, don’t believe every lie built on misogynoir, don’t read the hatchet jobs written by beltway flunkies. Concentrate and keeping moving!

Also: I’m getting emotional at the thought of Joe Biden pointing to Kamala Harris and saying, in essence, “I was the bridge to her.” And now Hillary is doing the same: “I didn’t win, but Kamala can.”

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Barack Obama Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Kamala Harris politics

Bill & Hillary Clinton enthusiastically endorsed VP Kamala Harris. Barack Obama didn’t.

bill-&-hillary-clinton-enthusiastically-endorsed-vp-kamala-harris-barack-obama-didn’t.

Before now, I never knew that Bill and Hillary Clinton were part of KHive. I’m so pleased that they are, in fact, huge supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris. In the wake of President Biden’s sudden Sunday-afternoon announcement that he was dropping his reelection campaign and throwing his support and campaign apparatus to VP Harris, there was an influx of tributes to Pres. Biden’s presidency and decades of service. Within those tributes, many Democrats immediately followed Pres. Biden’s lead and threw their support behind VP Harris. The Clintons were two of the first to do so, and many others followed their route:

Statement from President Clinton and Secretary Clinton pic.twitter.com/R7tYMFWbsu

— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) July 21, 2024

In case you’re looking for the specific KH endorsement: “We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her….Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her. America’s future depends on it.” As I said, the Clintons were very quick out of the gate, issuing this statement roughly eighty minutes after Pres. Biden dropped out of the race. Many Democrats followed suit – praising President Biden, then in the next moment, throwing their support behind VP Harris.

President Obama was not one of those Democrats. He issued a statement about President Biden, and he was completely silent on his endorsement. Considering many of Obama’s former staffers were front and center in the effort to push Biden out of the campaign and Obama sat by and did nothing publicly to support Biden in his time of great need, this all has left a really bad taste in my mouth over all things Obama. Here’s Obama’s statement:

Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order. Sixteen years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I knew about Joe’s remarkable career in public service. But what I came to admire even more was his character — his deep empathy and hard-earned resilience; his fundamental decency and belief that everyone counts.

Since taking office, President Biden has displayed that character again and again. He helped end the pandemic, created millions of jobs, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, passed the first major piece of gun safety legislation in 30 years, made the biggest investment to address climate change in history, and fought to ensure the rights of working people to organize for fair wages and benefits. Internationally, he restored America’s standing in the world, revitalized NATO, and mobilized the world to stand up against Russian aggression in Ukraine.

More than that, President Biden pointed us away from the four years of chaos, falsehood, and division that had characterized Donald Trump’s administration. Through his policies and his example, Joe has reminded us of who we are at our best — a country committed to old-fashioned values like trust and honesty, kindness and hard work; a country that believes in democracy, rule of law, and accountability; a country that insists that everyone, no matter who they are, has a voice and deserves a chance at a better life.

This outstanding track record gave President Biden every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started. Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election — how everything he has fought for throughout his life, and everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.

I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow.

We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.

For now, Michelle and I just want to express our love and gratitude to Joe and Jill for leading us so ably and courageously during these perilous times — and for their commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on.

[From Obama’s Medium post]

“I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.” Motherf–ker, the outstanding nominee has already emerged – President Biden said it’s Kamala Harris. The party establishment – minus Obama and Nancy Pelosi – are all throwing their enthusiastic support behind VP Harris. Obama seems to be endorsing disarray at the convention. What the f–k is he doing? What the f–k has he been doing for the past month?

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.

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Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Joe Biden politics

CNBC: The Clintons are working behind the scenes to help Pres. Biden

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President Joe Biden is currently isolating in Delaware with Covid, all while he watches his party try to knife his incumbent campaign in the back. According to NBC News’ sources, President Biden “feels personally hurt and betrayed by the way so many Democrats, including some of the party’s top leaders, have left him hung out to dry as he faces the biggest crisis of his political career.” I feel hurt and betrayed on his behalf, and I cannot believe what Biden’s supposed political allies are doing to him and have already done to him in the past month. It’s grotesque and it’s one of the most shameful moments in the history of the Democratic Party. In case you didn’t know, this whole f–king catastrophe started because the media needed ratings and drama, and because Democratic donors got spooked. All of this Dem Party panic and “senior Democrats” briefing against Biden constantly is about the donors throwing their weight around. CNBC reports that Hillary and Bill Clinton have been working behind the scenes to soothe donors:

Since then, big money donors who fund either the Biden campaign, his allied political action committees or the party at large have launched a lobbying campaign aimed at senior Democrats in both the House and Senate. Their goal is to convince lawmakers to publicly call on Biden to end his reelection campaign, according to over half a dozen people familiar with the matter.

Many of these donors laid their positions out in stark terms: If Biden refused to drop out, they would not be giving money to help his reelection until polls showed that he was a clear favorite to beat Trump.

Donors who have made these types of calls to Democrats on Capitol Hill include Hollywood executive Ari Emanuel, his brother Zeke Emanuel and Alan Jones, a senior managing director at Intermediate Capital Group and a longtime Democratic party donor, two people familiar with the matter explained.

The effort set off a scramble by some of Biden’s allies to keep donors on the president’s team. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her husband former President Bill Clinton and Biden campaign co-chair and media mogul Jeff Katzenberg have all made pleas to donors, asking them to stick with Biden, according to people briefed on the matter.

Biden has repeatedly said he has no plans to drop out of the race, despite over 20 members of Congress publicly calling on him to “pass the torch,” with many more doing so in private.

In an unexpected twist, events that feature Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden’s likely successor should he step aside, have started to sell out. An online seating chart for a concert event with Harris in Pittsfield, Mass. on July 27 shows it is almost entirely sold out. Tickets start at $100 and go up to just over $12,000, according to the invitation. Folk legend James Taylor and cello star Yo-Yo Ma are the headliners.

[From CNBC]

As I said in a separate post, this is the moment – it actually should have happened before now – for the party elders, the ones with no more campaigns left to run, to step forward with their full-throated support of President Biden and Vice President Harris. I’m glad the Clintons are working behind the scenes to help President Biden and I’m disgusted that the Obamas are not. Part of me wonders if the original plan was to have a big come-to-Jesus moment at the Democratic National Convention, with those party elders all coming out for Biden and making it a big moment of party unity. If that was the plan (and I have no idea if it was), they need to update the schedule and make it happen ASAP. I’m not sure if we can wait until August 19th, when the DNC starts in Chicago. What if this bullsh-t is still raging through the Olympic fortnight?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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Bill Clinton Fashion Hillary Clinton Jeff Bezos Jill Biden Joe Biden Kamala Harris Lauren Sanchez

First Lady Jill Biden wore Oscar de la Renta to the White House state dinner for Japan

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President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted a White House state dinner last night, their fifth since 2021. Currently, Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is visiting DC with his wife. For the state dinner, Dr. Biden wore Oscar de la Renta, a go-to designer for FLOTUSes for years. The dress is giving me Laura Bush vibes, honestly.

Apparently, the vibes were kept light and pleasant – Japan and America’s relationship is quite strong, and PM Kashida even quoted JFK in his toast to his hosts. The White House served ribeye steak and “a California roll-inspired dish.” The china used was a mix of a floral set designed by Lady Bird Johnson and a china patter designed by Laura Bush.

I’m including some photos from the arrivals at the state dinner, including VP Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff; Bill and Hillary Clinton; Tim Cook and Lisa Jackson; Robert De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen; Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez. Someone said that Sanchez dressed up like she was going to the Trump White House, but I’ll defend her for a second – that’s just her style. She has tacky, showgirl, showing-up-the-Playboy-mansion style. Her dress is Rasario, btw. I love Hillary’s IDGAF caftan and VP Harris looked snazzy.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

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Hillary Clinton Kim Kardashian

Hillary Clinton lost a law-studies quiz to Kim Kardashian in ‘Gutsy’

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Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton have a new show together, did you know that? It’s called Gutsy, and it premieres on AppleTV in September. Chelsea and Hillary traveled around the country, interviewing gutsy women and getting into adventures. Here’s the trailer:

There were a couple of moments where I was like “wow, at least one person doesn’t belong on this show.” Shockingly, that person was not Kim Kardashian. Seeing Amy Schumer made me feel a bit ill – come on, Hillary knows better than to give Amy Schumer a platform. Ugh. As for Kim Kardashian’s presence, the Clintons are highlighting Kim’s work on prison and sentencing reforms. I will be very curious to see if Hillary Clinton addresses Kim’s blatant quid pro quo with Donald Trump, where Kim used her celebrity and “coolness” to get Trump to pardon people. One thing Kim and Hillary did for the show was take a law-studies quiz. Kim won. LMAO.

For the series’ hosts and executive producers personally, perhaps the most gutsy was the former secretary of state — a practicing lawyer and law firm partner before she was first lady — going head to head with law student Kim Kardashian in a contest of legal knowledge.

“I think Kim has an unfair advantage,” Hillary hedges in the episode previewed exclusively here and in the new issue of PEOPLE. Chelsea, acting as quizmaster, allows: “Kim has studied more recently than you.”

After a round of questions on the use of deadly force, the difference between extortion and robbery, and when a claim of self-defense is permissible, Kim soundly beat Hillary, 11-4.

Was the loss humbling? “Oh, it was heartbreaking!” Hillary tells PEOPLE in a recent interview previewing Gutsy. Both Clintons tell PEOPLE they came away from their day of filming with the star feeling impressed. “She worked so hard (on the bar) and persevered,” says Hillary.

“We didn’t interview her about fashion … her many lines of commerce … her personal life. We interviewed about what she was doing to help get people who were unjustly or unfairly incarcerated have a second chance.”

As for how Hillary, who earned her law degree from Yale, fared head-to-head with the legal novice, Chelsea offered her mom a face-saving out.

“I think she just needs to work on her reaction time,” says Chelsea. “Sometimes, I could see my mom knew what the answer was, but she wouldn’t hit the buzzer in time.”

Hillary says she wanted Kardashian to shine. “I was really intrigued by how well she did. I wanted to put the spotlight on her, not that she needs it, but she worked really hard to get that.”

You’re not saying you let her win, are you?

“No! I’m not saying that,” Hillary hastens to reply. “It’s more the reaction time.”

[From People]

Why is this so funny? Kim Kardashian beat Hillary Clinton in a law-studies quiz. Hillary and Chelsea both claim it was merely a reaction-time issue with the buzzer. Hysterical. Anyway, I’ll watch some of this show. Not the Amy Schumer episode, but the other ones.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.