The former director of strategic communications for Hillary Clinton's campaign said Friday that Donna Brazile lied about Clinton's control over the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential primary.
Adrienne Elrod was responding to new revelations from Brazile, former interim chairwoman of the DNC, who writes in her upcoming book that Clinton's clout over the DNC tilted the primary in her favor over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). Elrod argued on MSNBC that Clinton was merely focused on helping the DNC get on stable financial footing and did not exercise unfair influence, leading host Katy Tur to ask if she was willing to say Brazile was lying.
"Are you saying that Donna Brazile is lying when she says that Hillary Clinton demanded control over who did communications, that Hillary Clinton demanded control over how the money was spent?" Tur asked.
"If she's implying that that took place during the primary, absolutely," Elrod replied. "Did we have control over the party in the general? Absolutely, and that's what happens when you become the nominee of your party."
Elrod's account that Clinton exercised no control until she had won the primary directly contradicts Brazile's account.
Brazile writes in her book that the DNC struck a deal whereby "Hillary would control the party's finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff."
Brazile has argued on Twitter, however, that President Donald Trump is wrong to say that this amounts to the primary being "rigged." But Democrats such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) have concluded that this does prove the primary was rigged.
Elrod credited Clinton for helping the Democratic Party with its funding issues without regard to whether she would even run for president.
"It's very clear we didn't have a very strong party before we went into the 2016 elections," Elrod said. "We didn't have basically any money "
"The Clintons have made it clear for years that they have wanted to have a strong party," Elrod added. "They have both been raising money for years, Secretary Clinton and President [Bill] Clinton have been raising money for the Democratic Party, well before she decided to run for president."