Hillary Clinton Email Case Reopened
With the election winding down, on October 28, 2016 FBI director Comey announced that the FBI is reexamining new emails related to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server. This stems from Emails that the FBI found recently and is related to inappropriate behavior related to Anthony Weiner, and the emails were found on his laptop. I will be examining how this will have a negative rhetorical effect on Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Negative Implications for Clinton Campaign
Anthony Weiner is a known democrat and has a history of inappropriate behavior, and the new Secretary of State emails were found on his laptop while he is being investigated for sending illicit messages to a fifteen year old girl . The emails were found, while during the investigation law enforcement went through Weiner’s ex wife Huma Abedin’s laptop. This democrat scandal, coupled with the fact that Huma Abedin is Hillary Clinton’s current aid . Amongst the backdrop of current email scandal that has arisen from Wikileaks , and the election soon drawing to a close this has been a horrible turn of events for Hillary Clinton. For her opponents and the media this has been a field day.
Trump used this as more ammunition to claim that the election is being rigged, and that the Justice Department is fighting the FBI to protect Hillary . Thi is a good move for his campaign rhetorically as it gives more fuel to the fire that Hillary Clinton is a untrustworthy establishment shill who doesn’t have to follow the same rules as the rest of us. At a Trump rally when he brought up the case was being reopened his supporters were more then excited, and he pushed the notion that she is a criminal and corrupt.
The media on the other hand, is attempting to sensationalize the issue and further draw this story out. Often reporting how the Clinton campaign is one the defensive in handling this situation. This story is steeped in enough scandal as is, but now that you add the sexual backdrop, that comes with the fact that it is linked to Anthony Weiner’s sexual misconduct that only further adds more controversy for the media to play off of. Sex sells in American politics.
Rhetorical Significance
Which each passing day, the cumulative scandals created by Hillary Clinton’s emails only further cause her more issues in this election. As she is already seen as untrustworthy and as she had just only narrowly been found not guilty, the reopening of the case is just further evidence to deteriorate her campaign. This October has had many surprises for both campaigns, this might be the issue to finally get the eye off of Trump’s sex scandal. Considering this new reopened case is a mix of a sex scandal and another case of Clinton seeming untrustworthy, it is possible that Trump can use this to take the election in November. Her campaign is already mobilizing to fight this.
Clinton will maintain that this is a non issue, and that even director Comey has said that this investigation should not effect her being President. That being said, in the public opinion this only further makes her appear untrustworthy.