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When Hillary Clinton and Donald were friends

Published

8 years ago

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hillary clinton and donald trump were friends

The sensational, spidery plot of the most gripping game of thrones in modern history is best captured by two images. The first is from Donald J. Trump’s extravagant third wedding at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2005: The junior senator from New York, glowing in gold silk and pearls, smiles up at the mogul in white tie with genuine delight as he says something that cracks up Hillary, Bill and Trump’s bejeweled bride, Melania. Donald and Hillary look “just like teenagers in love” in the flashbulb moment, as David Patrick Columbia, the editor of the website New York Social Diary, notes dryly.

The second, more sinister image is from the St. Louis presidential debate last month: A Tang-colored Trump looms behind Hillary like a horror-movie fiend as she makes a point, while three of Trump’s guests in the front row, women who accused Bill of sexual assault, give her the stink eye and Chelsea and Bill sit nearby looking grim. What a difference a decade makes: from a Babylonian celebration, with Hillary and Bill cozying up to Donald, to a seething face-off, with Donald summoning ghosts from Bill’s scandalous past and threatening to throw Hillary in the clink if he’s elected.

We are in the final days of the first presidential contest between two New Yorkers in 72 years, since Thomas Dewey ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt: The 42-year-old Republican governor of New York used a Trump-style attack on the 62-year-old Democratic president, calling him “a tired old man.” On election night, the party and the wake will both be held in Manhattan. Hillary will hold hers at the Javits Convention Center, with its literal glass ceiling and, as The Times’s campaign reporter Maggie Haberman noted, an air of trolling: Back in the late 1970s, Trump wanted to build the center and slap the Trump name on it, but the city refused.

In this historically dreadful and mesmerizing election, which could lead to the death of the Republican Party and the ideological makeover of the Democratic Party, the New York aspect has been largely overshadowed. Only Lin-Manuel Miranda made a point of highlighting it, on “Saturday Night Live,” urging people to take their minds off the crazy election by coming to “Hamilton”: “It’s about two famous New York politicians locked in a dirty, ugly, mudslinging political campaign. Escapism!”

In the “single compact arena” of New York, E.B. White wrote, a gladiator and a promoter can come together in a city vibrating with great undertakings. “These two names, for the last two or three decades, represent what has been incredible and vulgar about this country at the same time,” says the Manhattan ad man and television personality Donny Deutsch. “We can trace our downfalls or upticks as a society through them.” The story of how Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rose and reinvented themselves and embraced and brawled is the story of New York itself. It is a tale of power, influence, class, society and ambition that might have intrigued Edith Wharton, whose family once owned a grand home down the block from what is now Trump Tower.

The Clintons started their move to New York from Washington in 2000, so Hillary could pursue her bid for the United States Senate and fly on her own after the Monica Lewinsky scandal. She had never lived in New York, but carpetbagging was no sin to cosmopolitan New Yorkers, who embraced Bobby Kennedy when he decamped from Massachusetts and suburban Washington in 1964, so she looked North to Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s Senate seat.

When they arrived, the Clintons found a lot of raw nerve endings among the moneyed elite, who were bitterly divided following Bush v. Gore. Although wealthy Democrats and Republicans in New York have largely united around Hillary this time, business executives were more suspicious of Gore than they were of the Clintons. In those days, Democrats were complaining that the election had been stolen from them, and Republicans were whinging that it had almost been stolen from them.

Hillary knew she should not be seen as a Manhattan insider, so just as Bobby chose Long Island as his base, she chose Westchester. She recast herself as a Yankees-loving New Yorker in the city and a Chicago-born daughter of the Great Lakes when she campaigned upstate. New York — and being a senator in the horrific aftermath of 9/11 — would change Hillary. “It toughened her up,” says Senator Charles Schumer of New York. “She’s harder-nosed about things. Life did that, but New York did, too.”

Bill also needed a reinvention. After the impeachment and the Marc Rich pardon, he was in bad odor. He had to abandon plans to rent lavish offices for their foundation in Carnegie Hall Tower for almost $800,000 a year after critics pounced. He moved instead into offices in Harlem for $210,000 a year. The mulligan-loving ex-president was snubbed by four of the prestigious Westchester County golf clubs he reportedly tried to join. As Trump marveled to me at the time: “Now Clinton can’t get into golf clubs in Westchester. A former president begging to get in a golf club. It’s unthinkable.” Bill started an elaborate campaign to improve his image, making speeches at colleges and enlisting former cabinet members and other surrogates to talk up his legacy. Once Bill moved up in public estimation, he moved downtown with the foundation.

With Hillary’s Senate bid underway, the Clintons held out their tin cup. They had been fund-raising in the city nonstop since 1990, but the asks intensified as they started their foundation in 2001 and rubbed shoulders with all the new wealth on Wall Street, which was driven by hedge funds and technology funds. With book deals and lucrative speeches and Bill’s role as an adviser to Ronald Burkle’s private-equity firm, Yucaipa, the Clintons worked their way out of the debt accrued by legal bills from a cascade of federal investigations to earn an estimated $230 million in the next 15 years.

As the Clintons fashioned a new life in New York, Trump was transforming himself as well — from a risk-taking developer facing bankruptcy to a low-risk licenser of his name for other people’s projects, from a brazen builder to a gilded reality-TV star on “The Apprentice.” He had come out of Queens, a pushy New York kid with family money but no social tools to climb the society ladder. “Even stuck out on Avenue Z, his head was always in Manhattan,” says Wayne Barrett, author of the biography “Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth.” Gwenda Blair, author of “The Trumps,” says Trump, resplendent in the ’70s in his three-piece burgundy suit with matching shoes and matching limo, recalled “this strapping lad from the provinces who comes to the city, like a figure out of Balzac’s ‘Lost Illusions.’ ”

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‘Did I flaunt your wife?’ — Yul Edochie fumes after brother’s advice

Published

21 hours ago

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November 7, 2024 9:59 am

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Yul Edochie, the Nollywood actor, appears to have responded to advice from his brother Linc over his constant online display of his second wife Judy Austin.

Yul unveiled Judy as his second wife in April 2022. He also announced their first child together — to the dissatisfaction of May, his first wife.

Linc, in a recent interview on Kanayo O. Kanayo’s podcast, shared his thoughts on Yul’s decision to constantly flaunt Judy on social media.

He cautioned that the people praising Yul would quickly turn against him if issues arose in his second marriage.

“What is done is done… My father always says, ‘Take your marriage off social media,” he said.

In an Instagram post, Yul questioned why people were concerned about his constant display of Judy online, asking if they had paid for his data or if he was posting their wives.

The movie star also rained abusive words at his critics. Although he did not mention names, Yul concluded with a stern warning: “If my post offends you, hug transformer”.

“Ndi keep your marriage off social media kwenu! Ndi ala. You wey hide your marriage inside house, you still no divorce? Your wife no leave you? Psychos,” he wrote.

“Everybody na adviser for social media, your own life go dey scattter, you no fit fix am. But you sabi advise other people. If I post my wife a million times on my page, how it take concern you?

“Na you buy me data or na your wife I post? Idiots. The one wey dey sweet una na to wear black gather for person burial. One minute silence, the person go turn to hero.

“But when that person is alive being happy, his happiness go dey pain una. Thunder fire you. If my post dey offend you, hug transformer.”

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‘I’m a daughter of two immigrants,’ Cardi B rants as Elon Musk calls her ‘puppet’

Published

4 days ago

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November 4, 2024 10:57 am

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Rapper Cardi B has responded to remarks made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently called her a “puppet” for the Kamala Harris campaign.

Musk shared a clip of Cardi B’s speech on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Another puppet who can’t even talk without being fed the words. The Kamala campaign has no authenticity or true empathy.”

Cardi B fired back, saying, “I’m not a puppet, Elon. I’m a daughter of two immigrant parents that had to work their ass off to provide for me! I’m a product of welfare, I’m a product of section 8, I’m a product of poverty, and I’m a product of what happens when the system is set up against you… But you don’t know nothing about that. You don’t know not one thing about the American struggle… PS fix my algorithm.”

The exchange comes ahead of the U.S. presidential elections, scheduled for November 5, where Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is set to face Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Though Harris stands poised to potentially become the first Indian American president, a survey by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace suggests she may garner fewer votes from the community than President Joe Biden did in 2020.

In her rally speech, Cardi B spoke passionately about women’s rights, stating: “Just like Kamala Harris, I too have been the underdog, I’ve been underestimated, my success belittled and discredited. Let me tell you something: Women have to work ten times harder, perform ten times better, and still people question us, how we got to the top. I can’t stand a bully, but just like Kamala, I always stand up to one.”

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‘We’re not on same level’ | ‘Copy copy’ — Kcee, Flavour trade cryptic jabs on X

Published

1 week ago

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October 30, 2024 9:55 am

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Kcee appeared to have fired back at fellow singer Flavour for allegedly insinuating that he copied his music style.

“Copy copy akaria,’ Flavour had written via X without mentioning names.

Flavour’s subtle dig on Sunday sparked controversy, with many assuming Kcee was the target.

This was due to Kcee’s recent single mirroring Flavour’s signature sound.

Kcee responded with a series of intense posts, describing the tweet as “disrespectful” to his hard work and sweat.

He argued that no one has exclusive rights to the style, which celebrates Igbo culture and heritage.

He emphasized that his music authentically represents his heritage and refused to apologize for using the style.

“Stop trying to gatekeep Igbo culture. You’re not a Custodian. I’ve been in this game before you. It belongs to all. You don’t own this genre of music. My music celebrates our heritage, and I won’t apologize. In an ocean of things that matter. You’re like a needle. Get that right,” he wrote.

“People recognize authenticity. I’ll continue celebrating our culture unapologetically. Spend your energy on success, not diminishing mine.

“I’ve never been the type to go head to head, but I’m calling out this bullshit because I won’t be disrespected. No way. I’ve come too far for anyone to downplay my sweats and hard work.”

Although Flavour has yet to respond, the development has sparked reactions on X.

https://twitter.com/Kele_Chukwu/status/1851171584540569900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1851171584540569900%7Ctwgr%5E0925c4588990b1131d40048d999cb464e751ecd3%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flifestyle.thecable.ng%2Fkcee-flavour-trade-cryptic-jab-on-x%2F

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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