Hillary Clinton dropped out of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, which is controversially featuring former Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen.
Fortune’s summit is a conference of powerful women from a range of industries that is set to take place in Washington, D.C.
Clinton’s name was removed from the Fortune website on Friday after she dropped out of the summit. Her scheduling team cited a conflict to Fortune but an anonymous source said Clinton withdrew after being notified of Nielsen’s appearance.
Kirstjen Nielsen is scheduled to appear at the Fortune conference as the former Secretary of Homeland Security. Her most notable oversights include separating migrant families at the U.S. and Mexico border and her response to Hurricane Katrina. Many activist groups including Credo Action, Define American, and Bend the Arc have been putting pressure on Fortune to remove Nielsen from the conference. The director of Define American stated, “The utter lack of accountability in giving such a repellent character such a high-profile platform to speak hurts America and is awful for children at the border.”
Nielsen’s appearance is scheduled to be part of a discussion titled “The Hard Questions.” The format, according to Fortune spokeswoman Alison Klooster, is a “no-holds-barred interview with tough questions.”
Dream Hampton, a film-maker, activist, and author, also withdrew from the conference, citing Nielsen’s appearance as the reason. Hampton reported, “Fortune should not be giving Kirstjen Nielson a platform to rehabilitate her image … Sharing a stage with Nielsen, … would have put a stamp of approval on her immoral and reprehensible actions.”
Sources: Huffington Post 10/18/19, Slate 10/18/19
