A Republican National Committee intern dressed in a furry orange squirrel costume has been following Hillary Clinton on the media tour for her book "Hard Choices." On Tuesday, Clinton confronted her squirrely stalker – by giving them a signed copy of her book.
The encounter occurred outside the Newseum in Washington D.C. where Clinton was participating in a town hall-style interview that aired on CNN. ABC News posted a video showing Clinton's chat with the squirrel.
"Hello Mr. Squirrel," Clinton said as she stepped out of her car. "How are you?"
The squirrel remained silent.
"I know you've been following me around and, while you're in between your gigs, I wanted you to get a copy of my book," said Clinton. "I hope that you will make the hard choice and read my book. ... You'd bring a smile to a lot of peoples' face."
The squirrel accepted the book and hugged it close to its chest before giving a thumb's up and offering its paw to Clinton for a handshake.
"Thank you Mr. Squirrel," Clinton said.
The RNC has said the squirrel is designed to "have a presence at Hillary’s events to make sure Americans know that while the Democrats have no choice but to anoint her as their nominee, she’s going to have a difficult campaign defending her lack of accomplishments." It comes with a t-shirt that says "Another Clinton in the White House is NUTS!" and hands out bumper stickers with the slogan to passersby.
RNC Deputy Press Secretary Raffi Williams was with the squirrel when it received the book from Clinton Tuesday. Williams said the fact Clinton spoke to the squirrel shows she and her allies are concerned about the "Republican opposition" as she embarks on her media tour, which is widely seen as a prelude to a potential 2016 presidential campaign.
"The squirrel was surprised that Hillary would engage it, though I must say the squirrel was upset it couldn't ask Hillary the tough questions Americans want answered," said Williams. "The fact that Hillary engaged just proves that team Hillary is nervous about the Republican opposition."
Williams added that the squirrel promptly put Clinton's book "in the fiction section of his library."
Clinton autographed the copy of "Hard Choices" she gave to the squirrel. A spokesperson for Clinton provided a photo of the inscription to Business Insider:
"Squirrel – Please make a hard choice and read my book! Hillary."
View Clinton's message to the RNC squirrel below.
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