The U.S. political scene was rocked by another event this weekend that in other times, might have provided a chance for the president to cross over party lines and stand for unity — but at present, remember, Donald Trump leads the U.S. His former general election opponent Hillary Clinton announced this weekend that her brother Tony Rodham had died, sharing on Twitter:
‘We lost my brother Tony last night. It’s hard to find words, my mind is flooded with memories of him today. When he walked into a room he’d light it up with laughter. He was kind, generous, & a wonderful husband to Megan & father to Zach, Simon, & Fiona. We’ll miss him very much.’
Tony was younger than Hillary, having been born in 1954 while the former presidential candidate was born in 1947. It’s not immediately clear how he died. During what’s now proven the last years of his life, he kept a low public profile, mostly staying on the sidelines of the 2016 presidential race outside of an April 2016 appearance with Hillary and their brother Hugh at a Pennsylvania rally. During her previous run for president in 2008, he helped raise funds for the ultimately unsuccessful bid.
Numerous high-profile individuals shared sympathy for the Clinton family on social media in response to Hillary’s announcement, ranging from prominent comedienne Kathy Griffin to Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s founder Shannon Watts, among others. Griffin shared:
‘I’m so sorry Sec Clinton. You are a wonderful, fun and loyal sister. Remember when I went backstage to see you and he invited me to the fireworks show in DC for Fourth of July? Like it was a party you were personally throwing? Still makes me smile. You are soooo loved.’
Clinton has alternated in and out of the limelight lately, having released a book shortly after the 2016 race concluded called What Happened that purported to tell her side of the story and more recently, making public appearances like a stop on Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC and the Women in the World conference earlier this year, at which she spoke about the need of winning Democratic presidential candidates to maintain a presentation of their own vision for America in addition to countering, where appropriate, the belligerence of Donald Trump.
Check out Twitter’s response below.
