Bill Richardson not offended by being branded ‘needy Latino,’ ‘dick’ in Podesta emails

Hillary Clinton campaign officials had some choice words for Bill Richardson in hacked emails released this week, but the former New Mexico governor says he’s not offended and wholeheartedly backs Mrs. Clinton for president.

In the emails released by WikiLeaks, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta refers to Mr. Richardson as “a dick,” but says he’s still valuable as a surrogate. In a separate email with the subject line “Needy Latinos and 1 easy call,” Mr. Podesta lays out a strategy for getting Mr. Richardson and other top Hispanic Democrats to publicly back Mrs. Clinton.

Despite the insults, Mr. Richardson, who also served as secretary of energy during former President Bill Clinton’s administration and sought the presidency himself in 2008, said he doesn’t care what’s said about him in private email discussions.

“I strongly support Hillary Clinton for President. I do not care about any characterization of me made in an email,” the former governor said in a statement. “I have worked with John Podesta for many years and am neither concerned nor unhappy about this email repartee. I fully respect John and recognize the difficult job he has. I say this as someone who is neither seeking nor expecting any appointment or role in a Clinton White House, as evidenced by the emails.”