Twitter users tore into a former adviser to Hillary Clinton over the weekend after he suggested that the White House press corps owes Clinton an apology for their coverage of her in 2016.
"Most honest thing that could happen at #WHCD is for the national press to apologize to Hillary and her voters for their disdainful coverage," tweeted Peter Daou on Saturday.
Most honest thing that could happen at #WHCD is for the national press to apologize to Hillary and her voters for their disdainful coverage.— Peter Daou (@Peter Daou) 1493517250.0
Daou is a Democratic blogger and strategist who served as an adviser to Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign, which she lost to then-candidate Barack Obama during the Democratic primary.
Daou's assertion is that because the media rightfully covered Clinton's email scandal and the emails that were leaked by WikiLeaks, the media caused Clinton to lose favor with the public, which caused Clinton to lose the election to then-Republican nominee Donald Trump.
This theory, of course, discounts who Clinton was as a candidate and how she ran her campaign. For example, polls indicated that most Americans didn't believe Clinton was trustworthy, especially given the fact that she used a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. In addition, Clinton's campaign failed to run a significant advertisement campaign in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — the three states that Trump won and allowed him to take the White House.
Meanwhile, Twitter was quick to call Daou out for his "crack pipe" theory. Many argued that the mainstream media didn't do a "disservice" to Clinton, but did all they could to advocate for her. Others were simply in disbelief over Daou's comments:
@peterdaou Dude, really....put down the crack pipe. They did everything they could to help Hillary short of putting bumper stickers on their foreheads
— G (@TCC_Grouchy) April 30, 2017
@peterdaou Yes, the media should apologize to Hillary for her being under a FBI investigation & not visiting Wisconsin https://t.co/ZdxyPIEwDM
— The Right Wing M (@TheRightWingM) April 30, 2017
@peterdaou Actually, the most honest thing they can do is admit that they have been working with, and for the Democrat party for 30 years
— Chris McAllister (@themanfronUNCLE) April 30, 2017
@peterdaou Put down the drugs slowly and step back.
— Hobe Brunson (@Hobetnvarsity) April 30, 2017
@peterdaou Most honest thing that could happen is for the #ClintonCamp to apologize for running a TERRIBLE campaign & losing to a reality show host.
— JonTheWriter (@JonTheWriter84) April 30, 2017
Pete? The media frantically tried to drag Hill, the worst candidate ever, across the finish line but failed. Should they apologize for that? https://t.co/6yGw1ACz1e
— Blue State Snooze (@BlueSnoozeBlue) April 30, 2017
@peterdaou Is this satire? No one can be this deep in the media bubble echo-chamber to actually believe such nonsense! Wow
— Ven Turin (@Venturin62) April 30, 2017
@peterdaou pic.twitter.com/DAJS4y4Cpd
— Jay K (@JayKlos) April 30, 2017
Despite the criticism, Daou later doubled down on his claims. He later tweeted that Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who challenged Clinton in last year's Democratic primary, "got away" with a "smear campaign" against Clinton.
"Trump wasn't the only one who got away with a vicious smear campaign against Hillary. Sanders and the national media did too," he tweeted.
Trump wasn't the only one who got away with a vicious smear campaign against Hillary. Sanders and the national media did too. #WHCD2017— Peter Daou (@Peter Daou) 1493518097.0
Daou is the same man who said in March that Trump should be overthrown as president and be replaced by Clinton because "a hostile power helped elect our president," referring to Russia.