Hillary Clinton’s camp insists her choice to back out of a summit next week has nothing to do with her feud with presidential hopeful Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. She “was scheduled to be interviewed at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit next week and withdrew,” a spokeswoman for the business mag told the Daily News. Advertisement The former secretary of state’s sudden move fueled speculation she backed out due to Gabbard’s participation. On Friday, the lawmaker fired off a mean tweet attack that dubbed Clinton “the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long," and challenged her to “join the race directly.” But Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill told The News her decision to withdraw is “not linked in the slightest” to Gabbard’s trash-talk. “Couldn’t have even told you Gabbard was going,” Merrill added in an e-mail. Instead, Merrill pointed to a Friday Slate article that cites a source close to Clinton who blames the summit’s inclusion of former secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielsen, known for her role in separating migrant children and their families at the southern border. “We work with a lot of activists who are trying to do their best to improve this horrible situation down at the border,” the source told Slate. “At the end of the day, it’s an easy decision. You have to side with them.” When asked to confirm whether Nielsen’s scheduled appearance was Clinton’s reason for backing out, Merrill told the News, “Yes.” As of Saturday afternoon, more than 52,000 people signed an online petition calling for Nielsen to be removed from the summit, taking place Monday to Wednesday in Washington, DC. Gabbard’s Friday tweetstorm came in response to Clinton’s claims Thursday that the Russians are “grooming” one of the five female Democratic presidential hopefuls as a third-party candidate who can push their agenda. "She’s the favorite of the Russians,” Clinton said on a podcast, CNN reports. “They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.” At Tuesday’s Democratic debate, Gabbard lambasted the “completely despicable” coverage by event broadcaster CNN, as well as The New York Times, that she says has suggested she’s a “Russian asset and an Assad apologist.” When asked if Gabbard was the Russian prop to which Clinton had been referring, Merrill told CNN, “If the nesting doll fits." He later tweeted that in the podcast, Clinton “doesn’t say the Russians are grooming anyone. It was a question about the Republicans.” Representatives for Gabbard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hillary Clinton backed out of summit because of Kirstjen Nielsen, not Tulsi Gabbard, her camp says
Hillary Clinton’s camp insists her choice to back out of a summit next week has nothing to do with her feud with presidential hopeful Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. She “was scheduled to be interviewed at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit next week and withdrew,” a spokeswoman for the business mag told the Daily News. Advertisement The former secretary of state’s sudden move fueled speculation she backed out due to Gabbard’s participation. On Friday, the lawmaker fired off a mean tweet attack that dubbed Clinton “the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long," and challenged her to “join the race directly.” But Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill told The News her decision to withdraw is “not linked in the slightest” to Gabbard’s trash-talk. “Couldn’t have even told you Gabbard was going,” Merrill added in an e-mail. Instead, Merrill pointed to a Friday Slate article that cites a source close to Clinton who blames the summit’s inclusion of former secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielsen, known for her role in separating migrant children and their families at the southern border. “We work with a lot of activists who are trying to do their best to improve this horrible situation down at the border,” the source told Slate. “At the end of the day, it’s an easy decision. You have to side with them.” When asked to confirm whether Nielsen’s scheduled appearance was Clinton’s reason for backing out, Merrill told the News, “Yes.” As of Saturday afternoon, more than 52,000 people signed an online petition calling for Nielsen to be removed from the summit, taking place Monday to Wednesday in Washington, DC. Gabbard’s Friday tweetstorm came in response to Clinton’s claims Thursday that the Russians are “grooming” one of the five female Democratic presidential hopefuls as a third-party candidate who can push their agenda. "She’s the favorite of the Russians,” Clinton said on a podcast, CNN reports. “They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.” At Tuesday’s Democratic debate, Gabbard lambasted the “completely despicable” coverage by event broadcaster CNN, as well as The New York Times, that she says has suggested she’s a “Russian asset and an Assad apologist.” When asked if Gabbard was the Russian prop to which Clinton had been referring, Merrill told CNN, “If the nesting doll fits." He later tweeted that in the podcast, Clinton “doesn’t say the Russians are grooming anyone. It was a question about the Republicans.” Representatives for Gabbard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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