Hillary Clinton somehow managed to remain in the news even as rioting in Baltimore and a thwarted terrorist attack in Garland, Texas, commanded much media attention — but much of it was the kind of news the Democratic presidential candidate would probably prefer to avoid.
As police and rioters battled in Charm City following demonstrations over the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man who died while in police custody, reporters continued to question the extremely lucrative Clinton Foundation and the millions of dollars it raised from foreign donors when Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state.
And as terror analysts and law enforcement officials continue to piece together a failed attack on a “Draw Muhammad” event this weekend in Texas, reporters and commentators continue to ding the Clintons for flip comments regarding their impressive personal wealth.
For Hillary Clinton, the long-presumed frontrunner for the Democratic Party in 2016, the steady drumbeat of negative press could become a headache as the number of announced contenders, which so far includes only Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as well as prospective challengers, including Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, continues to grow.
Clinton already suffers from a 46.6 percent “unfavorable” rating, according to the Huffington Post, and her “crushingly bad” 25 percent honesty rating could do real serious harm to her in 2016, according to Bloomberg News’ John Heilemann.
And continued negative press will likely do very little to undo these numbers — especially as the number of challengers on both sides of the aisle continues to grow.
Unfortunately for the would-be commander in chief, however, not even former President Bill Clinton seemed able to stem the flow of negative press this week as recent remarks regarding his enormously lucrative post-White House career on the speaking circuit have been met with derision from commentators and reporters alike.
Saying that he might step down as the head of the foundation should the former secretary of state win election in 2016, Bill Clinton said in an interview with NBC News, “I might [resign] if I were asked to do something in the public interest that I had an obligation to do. Or I might take less of an executive role.”
But he definitely has no plans to stop giving highly paid speeches, saying in the interview, “I gotta pay our bills. And I also give a lot of it to the foundation every year.”
The former president added, “I’m grateful for our success. But let me remind you: When we moved into the White House, we had the lowest net worth of any family since Harry Truman.”
Considering that the former first family is worth an estimated $55 million, Bill Clinton’s “pay our bills” remarks were quickly characterized by the press as inexcusably tone deaf, much like Hillary Clinton’s infamous “dead broke” remarks from her poorly received 2014 book tour.
“[F]rom 2001 to 2013, Bill Clinton made $105 million only on speech-giving,” the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza said Monday on MSNBC. “So yes, they have bills, but this is not like they’re going to shut off the electricity if we don’t pay the bills.”
The Atlantic’s Molly Ball added in reference to the “pay our bills” remarks that, “I don’t think Bill is doing Hillary favors with comments like these. I think the larger question for Hillary’s campaign is it’s not clear that they have a strategy for this ongoing story line.”
As the unrest in Baltimore gives way to order, and as law enforcement officials put a lid on the attempted terrorist attack in Texas, reporters and commentators appear to be refocusing their attention on 2016, with many apparently challenging the “inevitability” of Clinton’s candidacy.
