Hillary’s Young Town Hall Questioner Sure Looks Like a Plant
The child actor who asked the first question at an event Tuesday is the daughter of a Democratic senator and Hillary donor.
Heading into Sunday night’s presidential town hall debate there’s a question that may seem to pale compared to the furor over Donald Trump’s 11-year-old lurid comments, but is worth asking nonetheless:
Did Hillary Clinton use a teenage girl as a plant at her Tuesday town hall in Haverford, Pennsylvania? The question that kicked off the event, as Alex Griswold of Mediaite observed, was just a little too perfect, and aligned itself flawlessly with Clinton’s recent ads attacking Donald Trump’s alleged offensive comments about women.
The 15-year-old Brennan Leach, who had a conspicuous red bow in her hair, was selected to ask the first question. “At my school, body image is a really big issue for girls my age,” she said, reported the New York Times. “I see with my own eyes the damage Donald Trump does when he talks about women and how they look.” She went on to ask how Clinton could help girls understand “that they are so much more than just what they look like?”
YouTuber Spanglevision questioned the randomness of the girl and her question, decided to investigate further, and discovered several interesting tidbits of information. (Note: The video contains mildly offensive language).
Brennan Leach is a child actor and the daughter of Democratic Pennsylvania Senator Daylin Leach. Incidentally, Senator Leach is a Hillary Clinton endorser and campaign donor. What’s more, Brennan admitted right after the Town Hall that her father helped her write the question.
Interestingly, the camera focuses on Brennan two minutes before she asks her question and she appears very nervous. Spanglevision said this is likely a camera test letting her know she needs to be ready, but why would she need to be ready if participants were chosen at random? The host, Elizabeth Banks, “randomly” picks her out of the crowd with a pert “How about you, with the little red bow?” Brennan then reads her question. She is the only participant to use a script.
When Hillary excitedly jumps up to answer the question, she says, “Thank you!” and “I think Chelsea also wants to say something about this!” She could not know whether Chelsea would want to say something about it — unless it was pre-planned.
While the Clinton campaign denies Brennan was a plant— and anything is possible — it’s not like Clinton hasn’t pulled a stunt like this before. According to Mediaite, Hillary’s campaign was forced to apologize in 2007 for “feeding question[s] to Iowa college students to ask during a rally.” MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported in 1999 that Hillary Clinton used a “prearranged question from a friendly union leader” during her New York Senate run. And according to The Associated Press, as late as this year, Clinton conducted a “careful, behind-the-scenes effort to review introductory remarks … as well as suggesting questions that happened to be aligned with her campaign platform.”
It isn’t difficult to see how Brennan could have been used to further Hillary Clinton’s purpose. It remains to be seen if the pattern continues at Sunday night’s town hall presidential debate. Half of the questions will come from participants. How many will come with scripts?