Hillary Clinton’s top aides published an “open letter” to Donna Brazile on Sunday, accusing the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman of falling victim to “Russian propaganda.”
The letter, posted on the left-leaning self-publishing platform, Medium, and signed by more than 100 Clinton officials — from campaign chair John Podesta to top aide, Huma Abedin — claims that they “do not recognize the campaign” that Brazile speaks about in her forthcoming book about the 2016 presidential election.
They say they are “shocked” by Brazile’s allegations, and especially that Brazile reportedly considered swapping Clinton off the ticket after Clinton collapsed at an event in New York.
The group also acerbically implied that Brazile had fallen victim to a Russian propaganda campaign designed to make Americans believe Hillary Clinton was too ill to be president and was a disintrested campaigner at the helm of a hapless team.
“It is particularly troubling and puzzling that she would seemingly buy into false Russian-fueled propaganda, spread by both the Russians and our opponent, about our candidate’s health,” complain Clinton’s top aides.
Abedin and company also claim that they had “immense” pride in candidate Clinton, and that Hillary “persevered” through an incredibly difficult campaign. They also say that they “remain proud that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine received nearly 3 million more,” even though Clinton got those 3 million votes in the wrong states.
Current DNC chair Tom Perez issued his own statement alongside the open letter, accusing Brazile of believing lies about the Clinton campaign. “I don’t know what Donna Brazile fell for,” Perez said on Meet the Press Sunday morning,
Brazile, for her part, fired back in her own interview on ABC’s This Week. “For those who are telling the me to shut up — they told Hillary that a couple of months ago — you know what I tell them? Go to hell,” Brazile told host Geroge Stephanopoulos. “I’m going to tell my story.”