Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta dropped the F-bomb on billionaire green donor Tom Steyer last year after reading an interview he gave to the New York Times, which Podesta thought would harm Clinton’s chances going into the primary elections, according to new illegally-obtained emails released by WikiLeaks on Friday.
“I am deep in the middle of dealing with getting fucked by the NYT, but I didn’t expect to get fucked by you in the NYT,” Podesta said about a month after Clinton formally declared her presidential run. “Thanks a lot for jumping us. I hope President Bush helps you reach your climate goals,” he added. At the time, Republican candidate Jeb Bush was expected to be the nominee in the 2016 general election.
Podesta appeared to be referring to an article published by the New York Times in which Steyer defined a litmus test for candidates that want to be taken serious by the electorate on climate change.
Steyer, who has become a leading voice for making climate change a top election issue, said voters should only support candidates who endorse a plan to move the country to 100-percent renewable energy by mid-century.
That declaration benefited then-Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, who wanted to move away from fossil fuels entirely and ban the oil and gas production technique known as fracking. Clinton has tried to remain a moderate on such issues, and has hedged on the issue of the federal government supporting a complete ban on fracking if elected president.
Sanders and environmental groups had put enormous pressure on Clinton to endorse more left-leaning energy policies. After she won the nomination, her perceived lack of committment on climate change, banning fossil fuels and moving toward a 100-percent renewable energy economy has hurt her polling numbers among millennials and Sanders’ supporters.
Donald Trump came out publicly against Steyer at a rally in Florida on Tuesday, calling him a “radical activist” that is backing Clinton with tens-of-millions of dollars. Trump said in return for Steyer’s campaign support, Clinton has promised to “shut down energy production all across the United States.”
Last year, Steyer did not seem to mind Podesta’s outrage, and responded that polling showed his strategy was the right one to get voters that care about climate change to back a candidate.
“Check the polling we released. This is very popular w[ith] the American people,” Steyer said. “And then check the scientific news. This issue is blowing up. It is by far the most urgent issue in my home state. 48 percent rank it at number 1,” he said.
The emails being released by WikiLeaks this week have shown that Podesta has a tendency to become angry with his supporters. Another email showed that he became “offended” when a progressive activist suggested that President Obama’s climate rules might be softened to draw more support from Congress. At the time, Podesta was serving as counsel to Obama.
“I’m kind of offended that you think we would water down the rule to get more support from the middle of the roaders on Capitol Hill,” said Podesta in a 2014 email he sent to liberal activist Sandy Newman.
