I Got 99 Problems with Hillary, But Hot Sauce Ain't One

The 2016 primary fight has veered into stupid territory once again. Nothing Hillary Clinton does can not be without controversy it seems. On a Monday morning radio show with one of the biggest hip-hop and R&B stations serving New York, Clinton was asked by one of the hosts, "What's something that you always carry with you?"

Hillary replied, "Hot sauce. Yeah. Yeah." (You can view that interaction here, around 25:00.)

Upon hearing this, another of the hosts joked that Clinton was "getting in formation," a reference to the recent single by Beyoncé in which she sings, "I got hot sauce in my bag, swag." The same host, again jokingly, warned that people would say she was pandering to black people, to which Clinton replied, "Is it working?"

And indeed, these particular comments in the interview have been widely panned as pandering to the African-American community.

Cue Donald Trump, who jumped into the fray this morning on Fox, calling Clinton "phony" and "pandering." That's pretty rich from a guy who spoke to evangelicals at Liberty University quoting a Bible passage he misattributed, and who stood up in front of AIPAC and said, "I love Israel" -- one of his many professed loves to varying audiences.

Politicians frequently pander, especially to the local cuisine of the constituents in question. Think corn dogs in Iowa or cheesesteaks in Philly. Never mind the fact that Hillary Clinton has a long documented love for hot sauce.

This is really a non-issue. I know this is hard this election cycle, but let's try to keep our criticisms of Hillary Clinton valid. Talk about her close relationship to Wall Street, her vote for the war in Iraq, her promotion of fracking abroad, the potential conflicts of interest with the Clinton Foundation during her time as Secretary of State. There's a lot of tasty meat there. We don't need the sauce.