Foreign governments are donating money to Hillary Clinton’ Foundation to influence her and her policy if she is the next president of the US, Cenk Uygur, political commentator and founder of the Young Turks Network, told RT’s In The Now.
RT: Republicans are chiding Hillary Clinton over the donations made by foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and other countries are among those donors. What are the implications of this for voters?
Cenk Uygur: Well, it’s a rare circumstance when the Republicans are totally right. I have no beef for the foundation, I’m sure it does wonderful work. But the idea that you would take $10 to $25 million from a foreign government and not be influenced by them is preposterous. Even if you think Hillary Clinton is a saint and she will not be influenced by that money at all, well good for her. But it at least gives the appearance of corruption and certainly Saudi Arabia and other countries are giving it not because they care about human rights. If Saudi Arabia cared about human rights they would have a lot of other ways to show it. They are doing it to influence Hillary Clinton who might be the next president of the US and that’s patently obvious.
RT: Canada’s foreign affairs department, which is promoting the Keystone XL pipeline, has donated money to the Clinton Foundation. Are these governments able to lobby within the US?
CU: If I’m Hillary Clinton by the way on the issue of Saudi Arabia. We remember that the point of the Clinton initiative is to push for rights for everybody, to get healthcare and all these wonderful things throughout the world…I’d say to Saudi Arabia “Keep your $25 million, let women drive.” But that’s probably a deal she is not going to make.