Wikileaks released a new batch of Clinton emails this week, exposing the inner-working for her campaign leading up to the 2015 announcement that she would run for president, through this year’s primary. Most of the emails were from Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, and discussed how to handle the scandal over Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email account and a private server. Podesta wrote that he advised Clinton to say she used the same email practices as her predecessors, specifically referring to former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
But among the more interesting and rather random findings in this batch of emails was this: a discussion about how to get actor and comedian Larry David’s endorsement. Several emails discussed Clinton and Sanders’ tight primary race: in particular, how the two fought each other for the endorsement of David, who portrayed Sanders on “Saturday Night Live.”
In an October 2015 email, Clinton’s campaign chair asked David’s agent if he was supporting either candidate. The agent said David wasn’t endorsing anyone because he was going to keep playing Sanders on SNL. The email also said that Sanders’ campaign contacted David after his initial SNL skit. They allegedly asking him to endorse, but David declined.
David wasn’t the only star Clinton’s campaign was looking to court. Less than two weeks before she announced her candidacy, her scheduling director sent an email, asking for a list of celebrities willing to help with the campaign. he said the campaign wanted stars “somewhere between a high school band and Lady Gaga.”
According to the emails, Clinton aides gave the go-ahead to using actress Julianne Moore as well as Lena Dunham. Former campaign aide Diane Hamwi also floated the names of other celebrities, including Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey.
