It appears Hillary Clinton’s expensive university speeches don’t draw much of a crowd.
Clinton — who is now infamous for demanding up to $275,000 for speeches she delivers at various colleges — delivered a speech at Georgetown University Wednesday that was forced to entertain a half-empty auditorium.
Speaking to the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security about “smart power,” Clinton faced a room of 700 seats, many of which were empty, according to evidence on Twitter.
View from balcony as Hillary Clinton speaks at Georgetown Univ. in DC. pic.twitter.com/ckciKemPug
— M. Scott Mahaskey (@smahaskey) December 3, 2014
Fifteen minutes before Hillary Clinton’s speech at Georgetown, the place is half empty. pic.twitter.com/eNic4QwWp4
— Dana Milbank (@Milbank) December 3, 2014
Balcony empty at Clinton Georgetown speech. pic.twitter.com/3kj5OBHdC9
— Maggie Haberman (@maggiepolitico) December 3, 2014
A spokesperson for Georgetown blamed the obvious low attendance on final exam season.
“Secretary Clinton’s visits to Georgetown are always met with great enthusiasm here,” explained spokeswoman Stacy Kerr in a statement to Business Insider. “She was here four weeks ago and students lined up overnight for that visit and we had to turn people away due to the interest. This is the last week of classes or the semester and many students are preparing for finals.”
Nevertheless, even the fact that Clinton founded the Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown couldn’t incite students to tear themselves from their textbooks to listen to the likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate speak.
Alas, perhaps some students showed up and later decided to exit. After all, Clinton was 20 minutes late to the engagement, according to Politico.
