Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton revealed Tuesday in Iowa that she opposes the Keystone XL pipeline, but the timing of her comment had many in the press charging that she was trying to bury her opposition in a wave of news about Pope Francis’ arrival.
“Hmmm Pope lands, every single TV screen focused on the spectacle with their specials,” Politico’s Hadas Gold remarked on social media. “[A]nd Hillary comes out against Keystone pipeline.”
Rolling Stone magazine’s Tim Dickinson added of the issue, “the pope visit newsdump is a new thing.”
Prior to her Tuesday announcement, Clinton worked hard to avoid taking a position on the pipeline, saying at one point in January, “You won’t get me to talk about Keystone … I’m not going to express an opinion.”
In the course of a single Tuesday afternoon, all that changed, as Clinton told reporters she thought the Obama administration would have the pipeline sorted out by now.
BREAKING: Hillary Clinton says she opposes construction of Keystone XL oil pipeline.
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 22, 2015
“But it hasn’t been decided and I feel now I’ve got a responsibility,” she added. She explained that the pipeline is a “distraction” from the real issue of climate change, and that it “interferes with our ability to move forward with all the other issues — therefore I oppose it.”
“And I oppose it because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change. I will be rolling out in a few days my plan for a North American approach to fighting climate change and clean energy,” she added. “Because for me, we need to be transitioning from fossil fuels — I know it will take time — to clean renewable energy.”
Despite her high-minded remarks, American journalists and pundits immediately sniffed out an attempt to bury her view, and some bordered on calling it a cowardly move.
“Said at exactly the moment the cameras were all pointing at the Pope,” the Federalist’s Tom Nichols remarked, referring to Clinton’s announcement as a “profile in courage.”
Pope dump https://t.co/3nhbRGwMRz
— Brett LoGiurato (@BrettLoGiurato) September 22, 2015
“Hillary Clinton just pulled off the Pope visit / Yom Kippur triple word score news dump,” Bloomberg’s Josh Rogin said on social media, adding the sarcastic hashtag “#Leadership.”
The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein wondered, “Clinton’s timing is suspicious, [obviously]. But wouldn’t she try to hide the Keystone news behind the pope if she was announcing support for it?”
Remarking on a breaking news headline, Time’s Zeke Miller noted of the timing, “as the pope sets down in U.S…”
It’s entirely possible that Clinton’s remarks just so happened to coincide with Francis’ arrival in the nation’s capital.
She has reportedly been put on alert as Democratic challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has closed the polling gap between them. Her decision to at long last speak on the Keystone debate, and to choose the more liberal side of the issue, may actually be a real-time reaction to Sanders’ surge, as opposed to a some sort of carefully timed affair meant to be overshadowed by a larger news event.
But that’s a possibility few media commentators found likely.
“The reek of naked political calculation hangs so heavy over everything Hillary does & says,” said RedState contributor Dan McLaughlin. “Bill Clinton was a magician of political calculation. But sleight of hand takes speed, polish. Hillary’s so much slower you see the trick.”
Cathleen Decker of the Los Angeles Times added, “Because nothing is going on that might distract, [Hillary Clinton] comes out against Keystone pipeline #popenewsdump.”
