Clinton says Trump data company involved in annulled Kenyan election
US presidential election Democratic Party loser Hillary Clinton has waded into the Kenyan politics, saying the annulled election was the works of people who helped Donald Trump controversially ascend to power.
In an interview with US radio host Terry Gross, Mrs Clinton fingered data company Cambridge Analytica (CA) as having played a part in the election whose results were nullified by the Supreme Court on September 1.
“You know, the Kenya election was just overturned and really what’s interesting about that—and I hope somebody writes about it, Terry—the Kenyan election was also a project of Cambridge Analytica, the data company owned by the Mercer family that was instrumental in the Brexit vote,” said Mrs Clinton.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
“So what happened in Kenya, which I’m only beginning to delve into, is that the Supreme Court there said there are so many really unanswered and problematic questions, we’re going to throw the election out and redo it. We have no such provision in our country. And usually we don’t need it.”
Steve Bannon, who briefly served in Trump White House, was in charge of fake news that helped the US president win. He once served as a corporate officer at CA.
On its website, Cambridge Analytica, which claims to offer a “proven combination of predictive analytics, behavioral sciences, and data-driven ad tech”, cites Kenya as a case study where it worked for President Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2013 election.
POLITICAL RESEARCH
“Ahead of the 2013 Kenyan presidential election, CA designed and implemented the largest political research project ever conducted in East Africa. Sampling and interviewing 47,000 respondents, CA was able to draft an effective campaign strategy based on the electorate’s real needs (jobs) and fears (tribal violence),” writes the think tank.
“CA’s client led by a majority vote of 50.51 per cent (in 2013), ahead of its closest opposition party by a margin of 6.8 per cent.”
Although there is no mention of this year’s election, CA has been accused of being behind the propaganda adverts against Nasa candidate Raila Odinga in 2017.
Read her full interview below:
GROSS: I want to get back to the question, would you completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election if we learn that the Russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now?
CLINTON: No. I would not. I would say —
GROSS: You’re not going to rule it out.
CLINTON: No, I wouldn’t rule it out.
GROSS: So what are the means, like, this is totally unprecedented in every way —
CLINTON: It is.
GROSS: What would be the means to challenge it, if you thought it should be challenged?
CLINTON: Basically I don’t believe there are. There are scholars, academics, who have arguments that it would be, but I don’t think they’re on strong ground. But people are making those arguments. I just don’t think we have a mechanism. You know, the Kenya election was just overturned and really what’s interesting about that—and I hope somebody writes about it, Terry—the Kenyan election was also a project of Cambridge Analytica, the data company owned by the Mercer family that was instrumental in the Brexit vote.
There’s now an investigation going on in the UK, because of the use of data and the weaponization of information. They were involved in the Trump campaign after he got the nomination, and I think that part of what happened is Mercer said to Trump, “We’ll help you, but you have to take Bannon as your campaign chief. You’ve got to take Kellyanne Conway and these other people who are basically Mercer protégés.”
And so we know that there was this connection. So what happened in Kenya, which I’m only beginning to delve into, is that the Supreme Court there said there are so many really unanswered and problematic questions, we’re going to throw the election out and redo it. We have no such provision in our country. And usually we don’t need it.
Now, I do believe we should abolish the Electoral College, because I was sitting listening to a report on the French election and the French political analyst said, “You know in our country the person with the most votes wins, unlike in yours.” And I think that’s an anachronism. I’ve said that since 2000.