Democratic strategist Paul Begala slammed Hillary Clinton and her 2008 campaign for circulating a photo of then Sen. Barack Obama dressed as a Somali elder that ended up on the Drudge report during the Democratic primary at the time.
A February 25, 2008 email from Tom Matzzie of Clean Choice Energy, which he sent to Begala, Susan McCue, and present Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, gave the recipients the heads up about the photo.
The email exchange, which is a result of a reported hack of John Podesta’s Gmail account, appeared on Wikileaks Thursday morning.
“See attached photo that Drudge credits to the Clinton campaign. Ouch,” Matzzie wrote.
2008 Obama photo of senator dressed as Somali elder (Photo from WikiLeaks)
Begala, who supported Clinton during the 2008 primary, responded, “It’s why they’re losing. Stupid, cutesy, tactical and petty. They seem unable to launch a sustained, coherent narrative. Think this will get them any votes?”
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe charged the Clinton camp at the time, of “shameful offensive fear-mongering” for distributing the photo as an attempted smear, Politico reported.
“The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat front-runner dressed as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya,” the Drudge Report stated.