Reporters rage while waiting for Hillary Clinton's campaign to finally launch
After Business Insider broke the news Clinton would launch her campaign some time this weekend, the Guardian followed it up with a story claiming she would announce via a video released at noon on Sunday. However, when the appointed time arrived, there was no video. Now, there are multiple reports Clinton plans to make her announcement at an unspecified time later on Sunday.
This left reporters assigned to cover the launch - including many camped out in front of Clinton's campaign headquarters - spending the day in limbo waiting for the expected news to break. Many of them took to Twitter to express frustration with the situation. Some even made up dedicated hashtags like #waitingforHillary and #WhyHillaryIsLate.
One member of Clinton's team seemed to poke fun at the reporters who were spending part of their weekend at work waiting for the announcement. Teddy Goff, who is working with Clinton's campaign on digital strategy tweeted what appeared to be a coomment teasing those who were trapped at their desks awaiting the video at 12:01 p.m.
"Beautiful day out there!" he wrote.
Goff's tweet prompted testy replies from several reporters.
The Clinton campaign's secretive and difficult to cover campaign launch is a stark contrast with the Republican candidates who have kicked off their campaign in recent weeks. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) all made their announcements at scheduled events and sent advance alerts to press. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) who has his announcement scheduled for Monday also set a time and gave reporters notice.
In the leadup to her campaign, critics have attacked Clinton for avoiding the media. Last week, her team reportedly held a series of off record dinners with reporters in an effort to establish a better relationship with the media than Clinton had during her 2008 presidential bid. If the press' response to her announcement is any indication, that effort is off to a somewhat rocky start.
View some of the angry tweets about the launch below.