Hillary Clinton's top spokesmen for her failed 2016 presidential campaign rushed to defend Chelsea Clinton on social media this week after the former first daughter claimed again that she is not running for public office.
On Monday night, Chelsea Clinton responded on Twitter to a Vox writer who asked who will challenge her in the Democratic primary for New York's 17th congressional district.
"I'm not running for anything*," Clinton wrote, indicating the asterisk meant, "Apparently periodic reminder may mean twice a day reminding."
I'm not running for anything*
*Apparently periodic reminder may mean twice a day reminding https://t.co/xJrYI30j39
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) April 25, 2017
The former first daughter received backlash for the Twitter exchange, causing senior communications officials from her mother's 2016 campaign to quickly come to her defense.
Brian Fallon, Hillary Clinton's former national press secretary, responded within an hour and defended his former boss's daughter by criticizing President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump.
Ivanka has a security clearance & WH office despite not being elected to anything. But God forbid Chelsea express herself on Twitter.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) April 25, 2017
Josh Barro, a senior editor at Business Insider, wondered why "ex-Clinton staffers ... do [Chelsea Clinton's] comms work like it's their job."
If Chelsea isn't going to run, why do ex-Clinton staffers do her comms work like it's their job? https://t.co/nCUqYSZZrl
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) April 25, 2017
Nick Merrill, another one of Hillary Clinton's former press secretaries, jumped in to criticize Barro, coming to Chelsea Clinton's defense.
1) Because we know Chelsea, and find that your rants bear no resemblance to reality.
2) Because you're really annoying and it grates on us. https://t.co/W6mZEF3ez1— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) April 25, 2017
Neera Tanden, head of the Center for American Progress and a policy adviser who worked with both Bill and Hillary Clinton, defended their daughter with a sarcastic joke about her running for home association president when she is 65.
If Chelsea runs for home association pres when she's 65 these guys are going to be
On
It https://t.co/Z2FhGpI6pV— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) April 25, 2017
Chelsea Clinton recently dispelled rumors that she will run for public office in the near future but appeared to leave the door open for a potential future in politics.
"If someone steps down or something changes, I'll then ask and answer those questions at that time," she told Variety. "But right now, no, I'm not running for public office."