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Meet Adrienne Elrod, Joe Biden’s director of surrogate strategy and operations. She was hired in June and previously served as director of strategic communications and surrogates for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Oh, and she allegedly ignored warnings of Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behavior as he helped campaign for Clinton. Cockburn doesn’t forget.
Actress Lena Dunham claimed in a 2017 New York Times interview that she made Elrod aware of her concerns about Weinstein, which supposedly resulted in no actions.
‘With the Democratic National Convention approaching in summer 2016, Ms Dunham said she also warned Adrienne Elrod, a spokeswoman for Mrs Clinton who was leading efforts with celebrity campaigners,’ the Times report reads. ‘As far as Ms Dunham could tell, the campaign had not responded to her concerns about Mr Weinstein.’
Elrod denied the claims and later said she didn’t recall being made aware of Weinstein’s behavior.
Cockburn struggles to grasp the logic of Biden’s campaign in hiring someone with such a troubling past. It’s not as if Elrod launched Clinton to victory. Then again, Biden spent part of this year plagued by allegations of sexual abuse from Tara Reade, who claimed he groped her in the halls of Capitol Hill when he was senator. Though Reade’s credibility has been disputed in the months since, could Biden be looking for Elrod’s alleged expertise in handling woman trouble? Heck, Elrod was already battling Biden’s accuser before she even joined the campaign.
‘It’s silly talk,’ she said in May of calls for Biden to resign in response to Reade’s allegations. ‘I think maybe it gives the far left or people who were not supportive of Joe Biden something to hang their hat on. But it’s not realistic.’
Like any good spokesperson, she flips the script into a smear against her political opponent — even if that script is a credible allegation of sexual abuse.
‘The Vice President came across as sincere, genuine and truthful. He made it clear, just as he’s done before, that women deserve to have the space to step forward, and to be heard — a refreshing contrast to our current president,’ Elrod said in May of Biden’s handing of Reade’s allegations.
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This sort of shilling is nothing new, either. Elrod proudly stood up for Biden in 2019 when he was accused of being too touchy-feely by Lucy Flores and other women he worked with over his decades in public office. What better place to do this than Morning Joe, the cable news program perhaps most associated with redeeming accused sexual harassers?
‘He has a very unique ability to connect with people,’ Elrod told Mika Brzezinski. ‘He’s charismatic. He is empathetic and that is a strength and that’s why I think the last few days since this story came out from Lucy Flores, his team has done a really good job playing up some of the former female aides who have worked for him over the years, reinforcing their view of him, which is he is somebody who has always empowered women.’
Sounds like Sleepy Joe found himself a ruthless, if not shameless, spokesperson to fight in his corner.
