This Woman’s Snapshot With Hillary Clinton Went Viral — Then Came the Threats
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Sam Kestenbaum November 15, 2016
The New York mother who posted a heartwarming photo of herself taken with Hillary Clinton the day after the presidential election has been getting threats because of the photo.
Margot Gerster was hiking in Chappaqua on Wednesday when she apparently ran into Clinton and her husband Bill Clinton walking their dog on the same trail.
She told the New York Post that she had received threats as a result of the photo, although she didn’t specify whether they came by phone, mail or email.
“I don’t want to discuss this anymore,” Gerster said. “This story needs to go away. It got a lot of positive feedback from a lot of people, but … I don’t want to fuel the fire.”
While the original photo appears to have been serendipitous — one hiking family running into another — online critics noted that Gerster and Clinton had met before, striking up accusations of a planned photo, according to a local NBC station report.
Gerster denied that the photo was a set-up.
“If I were longtime friends with the Clintons, I wouldn’t be keeping that a secret. I’d be bragging about it to everyone I know,” Gerster told the Post.
Gerster has since deleted the photos of herself and Clinton from her Facebook page.
Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
