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Hillary Clinton at the University of Pittsburgh.

President Donald Trumpinvoked the city of Pittsburghto justify his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," Trump said Thursday in the White House Rose Garden.

The reaction from Pittsburghs mayor, Bill Peduto, was swift. Hetweeted, "Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world & will follow Paris Agreement @HillaryClinton." At a press conference in Pittsburgh with local reporters Thursday, Peduto repeated this claim: "The people of Pittsburgh voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton, 80 percent."

Pedutos spokesperson Timothy McNulty said Friday the mayor got the number "off the top of his head" and noted the numbers werent that different.

During an appearance on CNN late Thursday, Peduto qualified his earlier statement: "The city of Pittsburgh voted for Hillary Clinton with nearly 80 percent of the vote. [Trump] may be talking about all of western Pennsylvania, but its a far cry from being Pittsburgh." And while on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" on MSNBC, Peduto again stuck with the same claim: "Actually in Pittsburgh, Hillary Clinton won with nearly 80 percent of the vote."

Did Clinton win the city by that majority?

Almost. Allegheny County election records show that Clinton won 75 percent of the vote in the city of Pittsburgh, while she won 56 percent of the vote county-wide.We calculated Clintons vote total using precinct-level data publishedby the county through the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center.

Our ruling

Trump said he was elected to represent people from Pittsburgh, not Paris, when explaining why he decided to withdraw the U.S. from a global climate deal. Pittsburghs mayor, Bill Peduto, responded by tweeting that Hillary Clinton received 80 percent of the vote in Pittsburgh. Clinton received 75 percent of the vote. Thats pretty close; Clinton did win the city by an overwhelming number.

We rate this statement Mostly True.

Here is the original post:
"Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh." - PolitiFact

Hillary Clinton may be the most tone-deaf politician in modern history. Repeatedly over the course of a 41-year career as a political wife, candidate and appointee, shes said and done things that have alienated voters.

Who can forget her acerbic comments during the 1992 presidential race? I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, she told one reporter on the campaign trail in describing her decision to continue her legal career while first lady of Arkansas.

And then there was her response in defending her husband from allegations of extramarital affairs: You know, Im not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.

OPINION

More recently, there was her testimony in front of the committee investigating the attacks on a U.S. post in Libya that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador: Was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided theyd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make?

And of course, there was this infamous claim during the presidential campaign: You could put half of Trumps supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. She described these people as irredeemable, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic you name it.

But Clintons tin ear hasnt improved with age or experience. This week, she told a California audience, I take responsibility for every decision I made but thats not why I lost (the presidential election).

She went on to blame the Democratic National Committee, saying that after she became the partys nominee, she inherited nothing from the Democratic Party: It was bankrupt. It was on the verge of insolvency. Its data was mediocre to poor, nonexistent, wrong. I had to inject money into it to keep it going.

She didnt bother to mention that DNC operatives were alleged to have helped her secure the nomination in the first place. She portrayed herself as a victim, even using the word to describe why the assumption she was going to win hurt her.

And of course, she blamed the Russians not without some justification, given their alleged role in hacking her emails and using WikiLeaks to dump them at the height of the election and former FBI Director James Comeys investigation of her private email servers.

Clintons lament, however, helps neither her nor the investigation into Russias meddling in the election. The best thing she could do right now is to stay silent.

Like it or not, Donald Trump won the election according to rules set up in our Constitution, securing enough electoral votes to win the presidency.

There has been no evidence that Russia hacked voting machines and altered the vote count. And even if Trumps operatives helped weaponize information gleaned from the meddling as Clinton claimed without citing evidence other than hearsay saying so publicly without proof may undermine the case against the Russians among those who will simply chalk up the charges to partisan whining.

The more Clinton blames others for her election loss the less sympathetic a figure she becomes. She has never been her own best advocate. Whether its the vast right-wing conspiracy, the Russians or Comey, someone else is always to blame when things dont go her way.

She wants to be perceived as a powerful woman in her own right one capable and deserving of leading the most powerful nation in the world on the one hand and a hapless victim of forces beyond her control on the other.

Shed be better off separating her defeat from the very real possibility that one of Americas strongest adversaries tried to interfere in our election.

Hillary Clinton and many Democrats seem to miss the forest for the trees in the Russia story. Russia may well have wanted to see Clinton defeated and Trump elected, but its ultimate purpose was to undermine confidence in American institutions and our electoral process.

It wanted to sow seeds of distrust among American voters and to undercut American influence in the world, regardless of who won. Turning the story of Russias involvement in the 2016 election into a partisan issue helps further Russian aims, and the real loser is American democracy.

Linda Chavez is the author of An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal.

Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com

More here:
Hillary Clinton's gripes sow distrust, and Russia likes it - Chicago Sun-Times

Hillary Clinton asked a top aide in 2011 whether she could fly on a separate airplane from former first lady Michelle Obama to Betty Ford's funeral, according to a newly released email.

Judicial Watch released on Thursday more than 2,000 emails from Clinton's unauthorized private email server she used as secretary of state. One of the documents revealed a conversation between Clinton and then-Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin about how she would rather not ride the same plane as Obama en route Ford's funeral in Palm Desert, Calif.

"I'd be honored to speak," Clinton said in reference to Betty Ford's funeral. "Is it OK that we and Mrs. O take two separate planes?"

The recent email release allegedly shows Clinton receiving and sending more classified information via her private unsecured server. Many of the conversations revolve around the individuals involved with the Clinton Foundation receiving favors from Abedin.

Read more:
Newly released email: Clinton asked to fly on separate plane from Michelle Obama in 2011 - Washington Examiner

Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the act of writing her book is sometimes "exhausting" and requires her to either talk a walk, or take a nap.

"Sometimes I'll work on it for a couple of hours. I have a little writing area in the attic of our little farm house," she said at the Book Expo in New York.

"And you know, I'll work on it, and I've got, you know, great colleagues who are doing research and helping me think through how best to present things," she said.

"And it's so exhausting that I just literally have to get up," Clinton added. "Either go for a walk or go to bed. Those are my two choices."

Clinton said her book would be about her failed presidential election and how she felt about it as it unfolded in full public view last year.

She said she was writing about her experience as the first woman to ever be nominated as a major party candidate.

Clinton's memoir is expected to be published in September.

Originally posted here:
Hillary Clinton: Writing my book can be 'so exhausting' - Washington Examiner

Crowds gather to protest the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement on June 1, 2017. (Credit: CNN)

President Donald Trump invoked the people of Pittsburgh to defend his climate change decision Thursday, and the citys mayor bristled in response.

Explaining his choice to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, Trump said: I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.

Pittsburghs Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto, in an interview on CNNs The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, said Trump was off-base to point to his choice as benefiting the city in part because Pittsburgh swung strongly for Hillary Clinton.

The city of Pittsburgh voted for Hillary Clinton with nearly 80% of the vote, Peduto said. He may be talking about all of western Pennsylvania, but its a far cry from being Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is in Allegheny County, a blue pocket in the red region of Western Pennsylvania. Allegheny as a whole swung by more than 10 points for Clinton.

Peduto told CNN affiliate WPXI he was outraged at Trumps line.

Pittsburgh is the example, Peduto said. We were that city that China is like today where the smoke was so, filled the air so much, that the streetlights would stay on 24 hours.

Peduto told CNN he would issue an executive order Friday pledging Pittsburgh would follow through on carbon reduction goals.

Its up to cities not the federal government to ensure carbon emission guidelines are being followed, according to the mayor.

In cities across America, youll see mayors standing up and saying, we got this, he told AC 360.

When host Anderson Cooper asked him whether he has a message for the President, the mayor said: What you did was not only bad for the economy of this country, but also weakened America in this world.

On Twitter after Trumps speech, Peduto pushed back against the President invoking Pittsburgh.

The United States joins Syria, Nicaragua & Russia in deciding not to participate with worlds Paris Agreement. Its now up to cities to lead, Peduto tweeted.

However, Russia signed on to the Paris agreement, and the US is joined only by Syria, a war-torn nation, and Nicaragua, which argued for a stronger agreement, in opposing the international accord.

Peduto told CNN he was in Paris when the agreement was being forged and also argued that responsibility for the bulk of the US commitments lay with the states, not Washington.

The Pittsburgh area has a noted air pollution issue. The American Lung Association gave Allegheny a failing grade in its most recent State of the Air report.

Link:
'Pittsburgh Voted for Hillary Clinton:' Pittsburgh Mayor Responds After Trump Cites City in Climate Speech - KTLA