Hillary Clinton’s campaign director on Monday hit back at criticism over the media’s limited access to the Democratic presidential candidate, despite reporters being corralled at a distance during her appearance at a Fourth of July parade in New Hampshire.
“So we try to allow as much access as possible, but my view is, it can’t get in the way of her being able to campaign, right?” Jennifer Palmieri said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“So we’re doing smaller events. That’s really important to her. That’s, like, the foundation that she wants to get in the beginning of the campaign in talking with voters,” she continued. “What we tried here was — you could do a thing where you preset press along the way. And we said, ’Let’s let them just be open,’ that’s how we did in other parades, ’and see what happens.’ I wasn’t there, but I saw some press reports that described it as chaotic. And so they put the rope up to get the — so the parade could continue and she could talk to voters.”
Former George W. Bush communications chief Nicolle Wallace asked: “Can’t you go and put them in the back of an open pickup truck — we used to do that sometimes — and then they roll?”
“Yeah, we don’t have, like you know, we’re still — we don’t have all of the, you know, vehicles that you might have in the campaign at a later date,” Ms. Palmieri stumbled.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign sparked ire with the media on Saturday after photos at a Gotham, New Hampshire, parade showed reporters being corralled behind a rope covering the candidate’s interactions with voters from a distance.
“Spectacle of Clinton as candidate — press being pulled along with a rope,” tweeted New York Times presidential campaign correspondent Maggie Haberman.
“Never underestimate @HillaryClinton’s capacity to fritter away natural advantages with poor judgement,” tweeted Politico politics reporter Glenn Thrush.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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