Op-Ed
Just like her mother, Chelsea Clinton never gets a break
Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York Senate seat if Gillibrand runs for president in 2020, that hasn’t stopped people from reading the tea leaves to predict what she’ll do next. Chelsea has been a vocal Trump critic, commenting on issues such as infant mortality and #SaveBigBird as well as racism in education and affordable healthcare. It has not gone unnoticed: A CNN headline last month read: “Chelsea Clinton embraces her Twitter sass.” She’s writing a children’s book. She’s joined the board of Expedia. The most minor details about her provoke outrage and inspire conspiracy theories.
The studious interest in Chelsea’s next move is understandable coming from the right, which has always hated the Clintons and no doubt welcomes the distraction Chelsea offers from the president’s dismal approval ratings and damning intelligence hearings. Bill, Hillary and Chelsea have long been enthusiasm-boosters for the Republicans, and they’re reluctant to give them up.
But the laser-focused Chelsea vitriol is perplexing when it comes from the left. Shouldn’t such first-daughter hatred be reserved for Ivanka? Wouldn’t their attention be better spent on potential 2018 and 2020 candidates who have already declared their interest? Aren’t there bigger battles to fight — and aren’t they glad that such a prominent Democratic figure is registering her dissent with the current administration?
It’s a strange time for the Clintons. Trump’s opponents are desperate for Democratic public figures to show some backbone, yet many blame the Clintons’ status as American royalty for the loss of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and the other states that really should have swung blue. Apparently 2016 is not done with us yet, and not only because the FBI is still investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
The Clintons don’t make sense as de facto Democratic leaders anymore, but that doesn’t mean they should just fade away, either. When Hillary recently said in a speech in Pennsylvania that she was “ready to come out of the woods,” I, for one, was happy about it. And while I don’t think she deserves a special award for it, I’m glad Chelsea is speaking out, too. They should be using their public following and personal connections to push back against Trump’s policy agenda, and to help build a new wave of left-leaning leaders who don’t have family ties to money and power. Such a legacy would be the real lifetime achievement.
Just like her mother, Chelsea Clinton never gets a break
Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York Senate seat if Gillibrand runs for president in 2020, that hasn’t stopped people from reading the tea leaves to predict what she’ll do next. Chelsea has been a vocal Trump critic, commenting on issues such as infant mortality and #SaveBigBird as well as racism in education and affordable healthcare. It has not gone unnoticed: A CNN headline last month read: “Chelsea Clinton embraces her Twitter sass.” She’s writing a children’s book. She’s joined the board of Expedia. The most minor details about her provoke outrage and inspire conspiracy theories.
The studious interest in Chelsea’s next move is understandable coming from the right, which has always hated the Clintons and no doubt welcomes the distraction Chelsea offers from the president’s dismal approval ratings and damning intelligence hearings. Bill, Hillary and Chelsea have long been enthusiasm-boosters for the Republicans, and they’re reluctant to give them up.
But the laser-focused Chelsea vitriol is perplexing when it comes from the left. Shouldn’t such first-daughter hatred be reserved for Ivanka? Wouldn’t their attention be better spent on potential 2018 and 2020 candidates who have already declared their interest? Aren’t there bigger battles to fight — and aren’t they glad that such a prominent Democratic figure is registering her dissent with the current administration?
It’s a strange time for the Clintons. Trump’s opponents are desperate for Democratic public figures to show some backbone, yet many blame the Clintons’ status as American royalty for the loss of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and the other states that really should have swung blue. Apparently 2016 is not done with us yet, and not only because the FBI is still investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
The Clintons don’t make sense as de facto Democratic leaders anymore, but that doesn’t mean they should just fade away, either. When Hillary recently said in a speech in Pennsylvania that she was “ready to come out of the woods,” I, for one, was happy about it. And while I don’t think she deserves a special award for it, I’m glad Chelsea is speaking out, too. They should be using their public following and personal connections to push back against Trump’s policy agenda, and to help build a new wave of left-leaning leaders who don’t have family ties to money and power. Such a legacy would be the real lifetime achievement.
