OPINION:
Hillary Clinton took pandering to a new level Tuesday, appearing on Univision with a dwarf, a bottle of Tequila and a full mariachi band for her birthday celebration.
Yes, Mrs. Clinton needs the Hispanic vote in order to win Florida and then the presidency, but still, her appearance on Spanish-language talk show “El Gordo y La Flaca” was bizarre.
But nothing is below Mrs. Clinton, who will indulge her various Democratic constituency bases with whatever antics — authentic or contrived — necessary to get out the vote.
Here are her most cringe-worthy moments on the 2016 campaign trail:
1. Hot sauce in the pocketbook
In an interview with New York hip-hop and R&B radio station Power 105.1, Mrs. Clinton told host Charlamagne Tha God she always carries hot sauce in her purse, clearly a reference to Beyonce’s “Formation,” where the singer says, “I keep hot sauce in my bag, swag.”
When asked if she was pandering to blacks, Mrs. Clinton replied, “Is it working?”
It was an awkward exchange, at best.
2. An abuela? Not so much
Mrs. Clinton’s team posted on her website “7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela” (the Spanish word for grandmother). The post goes on to explain how Mrs. Clinton “isn’t afraid to talk about the importance of el respecto.” It actually uses the Spanish word for respect, el respecto, multiple times in the post.
Online, the post was met with criticism, with some calling it “hispandering,” a mashup of Hispanic and pandering and the hashtag #notmyabuela.
“Our experiences cannot be equated to those of a rich and privileged white woman. It’s shameful and disrespectful to try #NotMyAbuela,” wrote Lupita Gonzalez on Twitter.
3. ‘Yo mama’ jokes
In the WikiLeaks dump of John Podesta’s emails, there is a conversation among top Clinton aides on whether she should tell “yo mama” jokes at an appearance at a black college.
“Yo mama, to me, is ghetto talk,” Mediaite columnist Crystal Wright said on “Fox & Friends.” “It’s not black outreach, it’s not saying ‘Hey, I want to earn the black vote,’ right?”
4. Happy Kwanzaa!
Mrs. Clinton’s team got dragged through the mud online when her staff changed her Twitter logo to what appeared to be a kinara, the candle holder used by those who celebrate Kwanzaa.
“Wishing everyone the best this Kwanzaa. To all celebrating – Bill and I send you our warmest wishes. –H,” Mrs. Clinton tweeted.
5. Mrs. Clinton whips, does the ‘Nae Nae’
On “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” last year, Mrs. Clinton danced (really stiffly) to Silento’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).”
Her husband, Bill Clinton, opining on Twitter, said that while Mrs. Clinton looked good doing the whip part of the dance, she “needs work” with her Nae Nae.
Oh, please.
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