Hillary Clinton finally released a statement Tuesday afternoon five days after the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, saying that she was “shocked and appalled by the revelations” and that the “behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated.” Previous to her statement, many had been questioning Clinton’s silence given that Weinstein had contributed to both her and her husband’s presidential campaigns, as well as the Democratic party at large.
Despite having come out against the American film producer, many — especially on the right — are still criticizing her slow response time. After she released her statement, Kellynne Conway tweeted: “It took Hillary abt 5 minutes to blame NRA for madman’s rampage, but 5 days to sorta-kinda blame Harvey Weinstein 4 his sexually assaults [sic].”
On Wednesday morning, Fox News invited Conway to elaborate on her tweet, and the president’s counselor was true to form in slamming Clinton for the discrepancy — taking particular umbrage with the fact that the Clintons have allegedly kept Weinstein’s money. When asked if it would make things right if she returned the donations, the answer from Conway was a resounding “no,” calling the former secretary of state a “hypocrite about women’s empowerment.”
“She spent one solid month, this time last year, talking about an audio tape, from 11 years earlier, where a statement was made by the now President of the United States, who was victorious,” Conway said, smirking, referring to the infamous Access Hollywood tape. “And she didn’t talk to the forgotten man and forgotten woman, she had no optimistic economic plan,” Conway continued, kind of getting off track. “And what has she done privately, in her private life? She’s on a book tour talking about herself and a campaign she lost, she’s not talking about women’s empowerment, she’s not trying to help victims of sexual assault.”
It could be argued that Ms. Clinton is now a private citizen and is free to do whatever she pleases with her life, but that fact is clearly lost on Conway. As is the fact that the sexual assault allegations against Weinstein are every bit as serious as the ones raised at her boss, who as she mentioned, is now President of the United States.