The New Hampshire Democrat Party will no longer call its fall gala the “Kennedy-Clinton Dinner” because of pressure from the #MeToo movement concerned over Bill Clinton’s abusive past.
Clinton is not the party’s only concern. The state party has dumped both Presidents Bill Clinton and John Fitzgerald Kennedy from the annual event because of the mounting accusations over their sexually abusive pasts, according to the New York Post.
The fall gala had been called the “Kennedy-Clinton Dinner” since 2016, but this year the event will be called the Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner.
Despite the mounting criticism of both Clinton and Kennedy for their sexual history, State party chairman Raymond Buckley insisted that the abrupt theme change was not carried out for any particular reason.
“We are proud to honor Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman revered around the world for her bold leadership and tireless efforts to create justice,” Buckley said in a statement. “She dedicated her life to helping all hard-working Americans and all those who needed a champion.”
The new name was chosen from a field of four names including, the “Victory Dinner,” the “Unity Dinner” and the “Democracy for All” dinner.
For the last two years, the theme of the event focused on the fact that New Hampshire was a key primary win for Bill “The Comeback Kid” Clinton to win the 1992 Democrat nomination for president. But the former president’s past has come back to haunt him, at least in New Hampshire.
The newest name change is not the first time the state Democrats have re-named their fall gala. When the dinner was first introduced in 1991, it was called the “Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.” That name lasted until activists forced the elimination of both former presidents because they were slave owners. It then became the “Kennedy-Clinton Dinner,” and now activists have forced an end to that name, as well.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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