Anger Boils Over as Hillary Clinton Aides Accuse Donald Trump of Using Anti-Semitic ‘Dog Whistles’
Image by Getty Images
By Dave Goldiner December 2, 2016
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?”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
