Now that the 2016 election is over, the postmortems about Hillary Clinton’s “doomed” campaign are starting to emerge. But there’s another, Twitter-specific brand of vitriol being directed at Chelsea Clinton.
The former first daughter has said time and again that she has no desire to follow her parents into politics at this time. But that hasn’t stopped (mostly male) journalists and Twitter users from grilling her about it, no matter how many different denials she offers:
Love that more scientists are planning to run for office*
*Periodic reminder that I am not running for office https://t.co/A5bphDsbKz
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) April 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/856660841713856512
I'm not running for anything*
*Apparently periodic reminder may mean twice a day reminding https://t.co/xJrYI30j39
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) April 25, 2017
She doesn't have to tell me anything. I was seeking clarification for a very vague statement. It's up to her if she wants to clear it up
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) April 25, 2017
Goodness gracious! I've no plans. How much clearer can I be (since you ask for clarity)?*
*Apparently twice a day reminder was optimistic https://t.co/PBm9eQUbs4
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) April 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/sunnyright/status/856676060506804224
For good measure throw in 2017 too-City Council elections are in November*
*My favorite color is blue (because, three times seemed enough) https://t.co/EVeF7MANzY
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) April 25, 2017
It gets weirder, though—some reporters are taking Clinton to task for the way she’s responded to these claims. That’s right, they’re mansplaining a woman with master’s degrees from Oxford and Columbia: (and a doctorate from the former to boot)
https://twitter.com/ByronTau/status/856679678467338240
https://twitter.com/ByronTau/status/856686463274143744
https://twitter.com/CillizzaCNN/status/856675548570976256
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/856673584672059392
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/856677887134638080
Not surprisingly, other members of the media (of both sexes) don’t think any reporter should tell Clinton how to end anything. They too took to Twitter to make their positions clear:
Lotta dudes in the media are VERY concerned about whether Chelsea Clinton will run for office and they WANT HER TO KNOW ABOUT IT pic.twitter.com/ic3Pl7h5Na
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) April 25, 2017
The demands for an answer are bad enough. "Answer me the way I TELL you to answer me" is entitled bro syndrome shit and creepy af. https://t.co/v971u8Vknc
— shauna (@goldengateblond) April 25, 2017
So Ivanka Trump is in the actual literal 1600 Pennsylvania Ave @WhiteHouse but we're doing THIS every day?
Oh, guys.pic.twitter.com/tjSNeoFsSR— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) April 25, 2017
Male journalists are now in their second quarter-century of trolling Chelsea Clinton. Maybe let it go? pic.twitter.com/Hkrr3metUD
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) April 25, 2017
I mean, look at this! Here's another "way to end this": Stop being an asshole. pic.twitter.com/xalJtQWsuv
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) April 25, 2017
Looks like the second generation of the Clinton-media battle will be just as heated as the first.
