Clinton Laughs Off Accusations He Tried to Buy NY Times’ Endorsement

In a lengthy interview with CNN’s new State of the Union host Jake Tapper, former President Bill Clinton laughed off accusations that the Clinton Foundation had engaged in a quid quo pro with the New York Times in 2008.

The Clintons gave the Times’ Neediest Cases Fund $100,000 around the same time the paper bestowed its Democratic primary endorsement on Hillary Clinton over eventual victor Barack Obama. The Times has denied any impropriety, arguing that the contribution was made months after the endorsement.

Clinton seemed to think it was LULZicles that now he was in trouble for giving a donation as opposed to receiving them, which has been the source of the scrutiny for the past couple months. He said his wife had wanted to donate to the fund to aid 9/11 victims still feeling residual health effects.

“That was a very important priority for [Hillary Clinton] as a Senator, so she said, please let’s give them some money,” Clinton said. “Had nothing to do with anything. But somebody accused the newspaper of ‘We’re we trying to buy the endorsement?’ But it’s a metaphor for the trust deficit in this country.”

Watch the clip below, via CNN:

[Image via screengrab]

——
>> Follow Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!