In the barren post-apocalyptic landscape of the enormous electoral loss suffered by the Democrats this year, some Hillary Clinton aides are pointing fingers of blame at her longtime advisor, Huma Abedin.
The bitter resentment overflowed into a Vanity Fair interview with a Clinton aide, who blamed Abedin for insulating Clinton from criticism that could have spurred campaigning in neglected states like Michigan that eventually cost her the election.
From Vanity Fair:
Abedin “inspires loyalty, and she’s loyal back,” one Clinton aide told Amy Chozick in her widely read dissection of Clintonworld for The New York Times Magazine, in 2014.In fact, according to Chozick, Clinton appeared to countermand those who suggested that Abedin should be relegated on behalf of the sexting antics of her spouse, the randy former congressman Anthony Weiner. Clinton, Chozick reported at the time, appeared more concerned with quarantining the so-called “night stalkers”—sycophants and hangers-on from her many decades in public life—who might try to re-exert their influence. Abedin, meanwhile, was widely expected to get a big job inside a Clinton White House.
One aide told Vanity Fair angrily, “Maybe I’m just pissed off, but I really don’t give a s**t about what happens to Huma to be honest with you." Abedin is accused of shutting out too many people from the inner circle and away from Hillary herself. One aide said they believed she was enjoying the celebrity limelight too much:
The close Clinton adviser elaborated that Abedin and the other tight-knit circle of people may have suffocated Clinton, preventing the campaign from taking in outside counsel. “The real anger is toward Hillary’s inner circle,” the Clinton insider told me. “They reinforced all the bad habits.” For instance, the suggestion had been made that Clinton should show her gregarious side, by, for instance, appearing more often on The View.
Democrats have thrashed about wildly in their quest to explain the shocking loss, blaming everything from the Comey letter to "angry white men." At least this focus on Abedin points to the real problems inside the campaign instead of looking for scapegoats to assume responsibility.
