The recent raft of allegations about the Clintons using the foundation as a part of a hazy web of influence-pedalling has hit the nascent Hillary campaign hard, and it is noteworthy that Chelsea has been directly involved in the push-back.
“It’s always about the work,” she said in an interview with Washington Post in Africa this week. “I’ve never had anyone talk to me about my parents in a political capacity for a foundation programme.”
Only the voters can decide if Chelsea really believes in that simplistic account of how influence works, but equally they can be clear that she is part of the family firm now.
Chelsea told The Telegraph last year that she never wanted to join the family business, but ultimately felt “called” to do so.
That decision comes with a price. Republican strategists will have to decide whether to attack Miss Clinton, or not, but there is sense in which Chelsea, once pitied for enduring her teenage years at the White House, is now part of the wider Clinton conundrum.
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