Billy Joel may have been pleased to have Bill and Hillary Clinton in attendance at his concert in New York last week, but not everyone in the crowd was a fan of the political power couple.
Fox News reported that the Clintons faced a crowd of booing after Joel dedicated a song to them at his Thursday show.
I’m (not) with her
Madison Square Garden was packed for Joel’s performance, Fox reports, but it appears that Joel’s fans aren’t “with her” — or her husband.
“I dedicate this next song to my good friends who are here tonight, Bill and Hillary Clinton,” Joel said before an image of the Clintons’ faces flashed across the big screen.
The crowd at first can be heard cheering, but the applause was quickly drowned out by boos, according to the Washington Examiner.
Fall from grace
The boos were, no doubt, a sign of the Clintons’ waning popularity these days. For his part, Bill has been a controversial figure for decades. But with the Democratic Party moving further and further left by the minute, the former president has seemingly been left behind by even his own.
Indeed, Bill Clinton’s history of sexual misconduct doesn’t align with public opinion in the era of #MeToo. Besides his infidelity and allegations of rape lodged against him, Bill also has to contend with recent headlines highlighting his ties to billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile who was recently arrested on child sex trafficking charges, according to The New York Times.
Although Bill has tried to distance himself from Epstein, many questions remain about what Clinton was doing on the several instances that he rode on Epstein’s private plane, the “Lolita Express,” which was alleged to have been used in a trafficking scheme.
The left is also turning on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who, besides being criticized for standing by her husband Bill despite his alleged sexual misconduct, has been involved in her own fair share of scandals. The latest Gallup poll has her at a measly 36% approval rating.
Billy Joel’s state of mind
Whether Billy Joel was just being polite when he gave the shoutout and called the Clintons “good friends” is unclear. To his credit, he is one of few old-school performers who have tried to keep their political views private through the years.
“I try to stay out of politics,” he once told Rolling Stone. “I am a private citizen and I have a right to believe in my own political point of view, but I try not to get up on a soapbox and tell people how to think.”
Still, showering Bill and Hillary Clinton with praise may not be the best way for the musician to get on his conservative fans’ good sides. This one was a swing and a miss.
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