Anger Boils Over as Hillary Clinton Aides Accuse Donald Trump of Using Anti-Semitic ‘Dog Whistles’
Hillary Clinton campaign aides angrily accused their counterparts from Donald Trump’s team of fanning racism and using anti-Semitic “dog whistles” to win the presidential election.
In a remarkable confrontation at Harvard University, the architects of Clinton’s losing campaign traded bitter barbs with Team Trump, the Washington Post reported.
Joel Benenson, one of Clinton’s to strategist, said: “There were dog whistles sent out to people.. . Look at your rallies. He delivered it.”
Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, denied using racist messaging.
“Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform?”
“You did, Kellyanne. You did,” Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri shot back.
The extraordinary shouting match, which bared the raw emotion the shocking election unleashed on those closest to the candidates, took place during a two-day conference at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. It brought many of the operatives face-to-face for the first time.
Tempers flared and voices were raised in an manner unusual for an academic setting.
Clinton consultant Mandy Grunwald offered a nasty backhanded compliment to Team Trump.
“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit for the negative campaign you ran,” she said, calling Trump’s litany of attacks on Clinton an “impressive gassing” of the former First Lady.
Benenson suggested that Democrats plan to fight back using the mantra that Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2 million.
“Don’t act as if you have a popular mandate for your message,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump.”
But in the end it was hard to argue with the winning team.
“Guys, I can tell you are angry, but wow,” she said. “Hashtag he’s your president. How’s that? Will you ever accept the election results? Will you tell your protesters that he’s their president, too?”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!