Hillary Clinton praised the Reagans for starting a “national conversation” about HIV/AIDS
today -- a comment that drew backlash from LGBT advocates online who
argued the former president and first lady did not do enough soon enough
to draw attention to the epidemic.
In response, Clinton quickly issued a statement apologizing for her
remarks. “While the Reagans were strong advocates for stem cell research
and finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, I misspoke about their
record on HIV and AIDS. For that, I’m sorry,” she wrote in a statement
on Twitter.
Clinton brought up the Reagans' record unprompted during an interview with MSNBC.
“It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for
people to talk about HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s. And because of both
President and Mrs. Reagan, in particular Mrs. Reagan, we started a
national conversation, when before nobody would talk about it,” the
Democratic presidential candidate said before attending Mrs. Reagan’s
funeral today.
“And, you know, that too is something that I really appreciate with her
very effective low-key advocacy, but it penetrated the public conscience
and people began to say, 'Hey, we have to do something about this
too,’” Clinton continued.
Clinton's remark raised eyebrows online.
Clinton supporter and president of the Human Rights Campaign Chad
Griffin was one of the first who called out Clinton. “While I respect
her advocacy on issues like stem cell and Parkinson’s research, Nancy Reagan was, sadly, no hero in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Griffin tweeted.
LGBT Buzzfeed reporter Chris Geidner also was quick to point out that President Reagan did not give a major speech on HIV/AIDS until six years after the CDC began noting the emergence of the disease.
And just this morning, the Guardian wrote an op-ed
about the Reagans’ work with the disease, titled, "The first lady who
looked away: Nancy and the Reagans’ troubling Aids legacy.”
Culled from click here
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