Trump, not Clinton Foundation, criticized in Baton Rouge flood tragedy
WASHINGTON (Talk Media News) – GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump contributed $100,000 to help flood victims in Baton Rouge last week, but came under attack from Clinton for “disrupting” the relief effort by spending only about 49 seconds handing out food, water and toys.
Clinton announced Monday via Facebook that she intends to visit flooded areas when “the presence of a political campaign will not disrupt the response, to discuss how we can and will rebuild together.”
Clinton did phone in her support urging the public to donate to the relief effort. The flood-ravaged area has 38 confirmed deaths and thousands of houses destroyed.
Her family’s Foundation which has spent much of last and this week embroiled in responding to accusations of ‘pay-for-play’ State Department engagements has remained silent. Repeated calls and emails to the Foundation were not returned.
Eric Bolling, co-host of Fox News Channel’s “The Five of Fox” called out Clinton in a recent editorial asking if “Hillary will use her Clinton Foundation billions to help Louisiana?”
“Today, I call on the Clinton Foundation to support those devastated by the latest storm and ensuing flooding in Louisiana,” Bolling wrote. “Surely, Hillary won’t object even if Louisiana will likely vote for her opponent. Surely, Hillary and Bill can spare a few millions out of the nearly $2 billion dollars raised by their foundation to help people suffering here at home!”
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that 85 of the 154 non-diplomats granted private meetings with Clinton while she was Secretary of State contributed monetarily to the Foundation. 20 of those 85 contributed more than $1 million.
Recent criticism of the Foundation has provoked intense debate between traditional Clinton supporters and their opponents.
Political Strategist James Carville, who once advised President Bill Clinton, said in an interview Monday that if ongoing attacks against the Foundation subsequently result in its dissolution that disaster would inevitably ensue.
“The press has decided that we’re going to go after this and shut it down,” Carville told CNN. “You are probably going to be successful. There will be people that are going to die because of this.”
Dan Gainor, vice president of Business and Culture at the conservative Media Research Center, called out the mainstream media for failing to give Trump credit.
“Now that Trump has gone to Louisiana, suddenly journalists don’t care as much about such things,” Ganior said. “This is just part of the whole media push against Trump. Many reporters lack the ethics to even try to be neutral in their coverage.”
Gainor said Clinton’s postponed Baton Rouge visit is unlikely to provoke significant media criticism because mainstream journalists are largely uninterested in holding her accountable.
“Hillary is running a carefully scripted campaign that relies on the media ignoring her many faults, scandals and controversies,” Gainor said. “A visit like this might boost her campaign, but it might also hurt it. So she is simply playing it safe, knowing that the media won’t really go digging into the bad things about her.”
David Horowitz, who is president of the conservative-leaning Los Angeles-based Horowitz Freedom Center, said Trump is facing criticism for insufficient action largely because the mainstream media is carrying water for Clinton.
“Of course Trump is being held to a different standard,” Horowitz said. “The media is flagrantly in the tank for Hillary, who is lying about her reason for not going to Louisiana.”
Horowitz also referenced contradicting parallels between Democratic criticisms of President George W. Bush who was widely perceived as not having acted with sufficient speed to aid Hurricane Katrina victims in 2004 versus Clinton’s current widely perceived inaction vis-a-vis Baton Rogue.
“The Democrats who excoriated Bush for being a few days late to the Katrina flood are blatant hypocrites, but a dishonest press won’t notice this,” Horowitz said.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.