Rutgers University paid twice-failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton $25,000 for her recent speech, and the relatively low speaking fee is causing quite the buzz.
After all, Rutgers paid Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, of the reality show Jersey Shore more than that in 2011.
Clinton was paid $25,000 to speak at Rutgers University about being targeted as a woman in politics, the upcoming elections and the Trump administration, among other topics, NJ.com reported.But the money she made seemed to be considerably less than some other high-profile guests who’ve spoken at the New Jersey school.For example, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, of “Jersey Shore” fame, was paid $32,000 for her Rutgers appearance in 2011. Students paid for her appearance using money from the student activity fees undergraduates pay at the school, according to NJ.com.
If you’re wondering who Snooki is, here’s a compilation clip from Jersey Shore (NSFW):
Hillary’s Wall Street speaking fees have garnered a lot of attention, but her university speaking fees were a source of much interest only four years ago.
In 2014, after Hillary left State, the Washington Post reported that her university speaking fees were creating backlash at universities. Students were outraged that universities were raising tuition while paying Hillary $200k-300k for a single speech.
At least eight universities, including four public institutions, have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hillary Rodham Clinton to speak on their campuses over the past year, sparking a backlash from some student groups and teachers at a time of austerity in higher education.In one previously undisclosed transaction, the University of Connecticut — which just raised tuition by 6.5 percent — paid $251,250 from a donor fund for Clinton to speak on campus in April. Other examples include $300,000 to speak at the University of California at Los Angeles in March and $225,000 for a speech scheduled for October at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.The potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate also has been paid for speeches at the University at Buffalo, Colgate University and Hamilton College in New York, as well as Simmons College in Boston and the University of Miami in Florida.Officials at those five schools refused to say what they paid Clinton. But if she earned her standard fee of $200,000 or more, that would mean she took in at least $1.8 million in speaking income from universities in the past nine months.
So intense was the backlash, that Hillary felt the need to explain that all of her university speaking fees “went to charity.” The charity? You guessed it, the Clinton Foundation.
CBS News reported at the time:
Facing criticism from some quarters about her expensive speeches, Hillary Clinton said Friday that every dollar she’s earned speaking at universities since stepping down as secretary of state last year has gone into the philanthropic work of her family’s foundation.”All of the fees have been donated to the Clinton Foundation for it to continue its life-changing and life-saving work,” she told ABC News. “So it goes from a foundation at a university to another foundation.”The issue was thrown into the spotlight when students at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) demanded last week that Clinton return the $225,000 the university paid her for a speech scheduled for October, citing planned tuition hikes.”The students are outraged about this,” Elias Benjelloun, UNLV’s student body president, told the Washington Post. “When you see reckless spending, it just belittles the sacrifices students are consistently asked to make. I’m not an accountant or economist, so I can’t put a price tag on how much we should be paying her, but I think she should come for free.”
So what happened? Why are her speaking fees so low now? From a quarter of a million dollars a pop to $25k is quite a drop.
It’s not because she’s “just” a former Secretary of State. The University of Minnesota paid Condoleezza Rice $150,000 for a 2014 speech. She had left State in 2009.
Rutgers may be on a budget, though, since they invited Rice for their 2014 commencement and offered her an honorary doctorate and $35,000. A horrible backlash ensued, however, because Rutgers faculty and students didn’t want to hear from Rice, and she ultimately decided not to give the speech.
As a conservative former Secretary of State, Rice was offered by Rutgers $10k (and an honorary doctoral degree) more than Hillary. As a former “reality star,” the unpolished Snooki was paid by Rutgers $7k more than Hillary.
They’re both women, so Hillary can’t keep shrieking “sexist misogynists who hate me because I’m a woman.” I’m sure she’ll come up with something, though. Maybe Rutgers is in league with the Russians, Comey, Obama, the DNC, and the “deplorables” who are plotting against her as a part of the “vast right-wing conspiracy”?
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