Tuesday afternoon, Hillary Clinton demonstrated the awkward inability to respond off-the-cuff that makes her one of the least spontaneous candidates in memory.
While leaving a fundraiser in New York, Hillary was captured making a brief walk to her car. Perhaps aware that reporters had gathered outside, Hillary began talking loudly, apparently in mid-conversation, just before she exited the building. “No, no, that’s not it. It’s just the time, the focus and everything,” Hillary said, her hands up as if explaining something. But to whom was she talking? Therein lies the mystery.
Two people exited the building ahead of Hillary. One was clearly Secret Service. The other was a woman in a red dress. Both exited well of ahead of her, and neither one was looking back or listening to her. No one walked out beside Hillary, and no one followed close behind her either. She appeared to be talking to herself.
When a reporter interrupted Hillary’s “conversation” to ask a question about the riots in Baltimore, Hillary waved in the direction of the interruption to her monologue but kept walking without responding to the question. Was this all a ploy to avoid questions? That’s how it looks.
An Instragram clip of the awkward moment was posted by ABC reporter Liz Kreutz:
Hillary Clinton – very deep in thought today – leaving very first fundraiser of 2016. #NYC #2016
A video posted by Liz Kreutz (@kreutzel) on Apr 28, 2015 at 2:29pm PDT
At the very end of the clip, another woman briefly peeks her head out of the door and then disappears. It’s hard to be sure, but it looks like Huma Abedin, Hillary’s longtime assistant.