DURING DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED REACTION TO MASS SHOOTING
by Sharon Rondeau
(Oct. 23, 2016) — In an email released by Wikileaks over the weekend, Clinton strategists last year discussed responding to a mass killing at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR by crafting a speech for Clinton to deliver in New Hampshire on gun violence on Monday, October 5.
In the proposed speech, Clinton’s proposed closing statement was, “If Congress doesn’t act to prevent gun violence, as President, I will. That’s a promise.”
Speechwriter Megan Rooney explained to the recipients that the scheduled townhall meeting was not intended to be “exclusively about gun violence.”
In her third paragraph, Rooney wrote, “Since she won’t have a podium, rather than write TPs that cover her broader message, I just did guns.” “TPs” can reasonably be interpreted to mean “talking points.”
Another email written by Huma Abedin also refers to Clinton’s lack of a podium in a campaign arena. Speculation about Clinton’s health has persisted over the last several months, particularly after she appeared to faint or have a seizure while leaving a 9/11 commemoration ceremony early.
The strategists considered what Clinton should say as compared to statements made by Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, both of whom were seeking the Republican nomination along with 15 other contenders. Rooney’s email reported that Trump had been quoted by thinkprogress.org as having responded to the shooting with, ““That’s the way the world goes.”
The Post & Email was not able to find the statement in an internet search using the exact phrase quoted. However, using the link from the email, the article appeared.
ThinkProgress.org describes itself as “a news site dedicated to providing our readers with rigorous reporting and analysis from a progressive perspective. Founded in 2005, ThinkProgress is an editorially independent project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Over the past decade, the site has evolved from a small rapid response blog to a newsroom of reporters and editors covering the intersections between politics, policy, culture, and social justice.”
The Center for American Progress, co-founded by Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, states that it “is an independent nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans, through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country.”
On October 24, 2011, Politico reported that “Podesta, who served as Bill Clinton’s last chief of staff from 1998 to 2001, founded the center in 2003 with a core of wealthy liberal supporters and transformed it into the Democratic Party’s key policy and politics shop.”
Podesta was not copied on the strategists’ email, although over the past two weeks, Wikileaks has been releasing emails from Podesta’s several email accounts.
In an interview with Fox News’s Chris Wallace on Sunday, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook claimed that the emails were “stolen by the Russians,” a claim Wikileaks founder Julian Assange disputes. “This is a distraction put in place by the Russian government,” Mook told Wallace, adding that “Trump” was behind the leaked emails.
Over the nearly 17-month presidential campaign, Trump has vowed to maintain the provisions of the Second Amendment if elected.