Hillary R. Clinton, former U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, and candidate for President of the United States, cut a video promoting the Maine Democratic Socialists of America’s Portland minimum wage ballot initiative for a Twitter account with 57 followers.
The 45 second Twitter video featuring Clinton was posted to social media on Thursday and has received less than 4,000 views.
The video was also posted to a Maine DSA “Youtube Shorts” account. Although users can’t see how many views the short got on the 27-subscriber YouTube channel, the endorsement did get six “likes.”
On Election Day, residents of Portland will vote on a series of ballot initiatives advanced by the Democratic Socialists of America, which has set up a Maine chapter in the city.
Question D, the socialist-backed initiative Clinton has endorsed, would establish a new city department — the Department of Fair Labor Practices — headed by by a new city official — the Director of Fair Labor Practices. The Director would promulgate and enforce new rules on ride share app drivers and delivery drivers.
The initiative, if successful, would also increase the minimum wage for businesses in the city to $15.00 per hour in 2023, $16.50 per hour in 2024, and $18.00 per hour in 2025, with further upward adjustments in the future according to cost of living increases.
The initiative would also modify the special minimum wage for tipped workers, like waiters and waitresses, who often make considerably more than the minimum wage through their tips. Employers would be required to either prove that tipped employees make more than the new higher minimum wage or pay the minimum wage.
It’s unclear whether Clinton, who came within 77 Electoral College votes of being President in 2016, was compensated by the Democratic Socialists for starring the in ad. The account appears to belong to a Cambridge, Mass.-based 501(c)4 non-profit.
Clinton, who was once considered the inevitable successor to President Barack Obama as head of the most powerful nation on the planet, might have seen her impactful endorsement of the Portland ballot initiative go largely unnoticed but for vital coverage of the video on Newscenter Maine.