The Trump administration took a shot at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she rallied Americans to reject President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom construction project, accusing the former first lady of stealing furniture from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2001.
‘Failed presidential candidate and former First Lady Crooked Hillary Clinton stole furniture from the White House on her way out until she was forced to return it,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Wednesday. ‘Crooked Hillary is shameless and a total disgrace.’
‘Meanwhile, President Trump is restoring the White House to its proper glory for Americans to enjoy for generations to come — at no expense to the taxpayer — something we should all celebrate,’ Ingle added.
Clinton took to social media earlier in October to rally support against Trump’s ballroom construction at the White House — a privately-funded project to install a 90,000-square-foot entertaining space at the iconic residence.
‘It’s not his house,’ Hillary Clinton wrote on X Tuesday morning. ‘It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.’
Clinton’s comment was quickly mocked, as conservatives rehashed a 2001 controversy when former President Bill Clinton and his wife took household items from the White House that were legally designated as White House property, according to The Washington Post at the time.
The Clintons took, and then returned, an estimated $28,000 in White House furnishings provided by donors, and paid $86,000 to the federal government for other gifts they received in 2001, after Clinton’s tenure in the Oval Office came to a close, The Washington Post reported at the time. The former first couple denied wrongdoing while addressing the ‘catalogoing error.’
‘Gifts did not leave the White House without the approval of the White House usher’s and curator’s offices,’ the Clintons said in a 2001 statement. ‘Of course, if the White House now determines that a cataloging error occurred … any item in question will be returned.’
Conservatives, including lawmakers and social media influencers, knocked Clinton over the 2001 controversy in response to her comments against the ballroom construction.
‘At least he didn’t steal the silverware,’ Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted to X Tuesday lambasting Clinton.
‘Hi Hillary, Remind us, wasn’t it you who walked off with $28,000 in White House furniture when you moved out?’ conservative influencer Benny Johnson posted to X. ‘And your husband who defiled the Oval Office during his presidency? President Trump’s funding a beautiful new ballroom out of his own pocket.’
‘A Clinton would never defile the White House,’ former White House staffer Alex Pfeiffer shot back in response.
Fox News Digital reached out to Clinton’s office multiple times for additional comment on her anti-ballroom remarks and subsequent mockery of the 2001 controversy but did not receive replies.
Trump announced Monday that construction for the ballroom had begun.
‘I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!’
‘For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ he continued. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’