Chelsea Clinton Recalls ‘Disgusting & Cruel’ Way Her Weight Was Criticized As A Kid
ABC/Lou Rocco
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The former First Daughter reflected on the ‘nasty’ comments about her looks that she got from some commentators.
Chelsea Clinton didn’t hold back during her guest co-hosting appearance on The View on Friday April 1. The former First Daughter looked back on some of the negative comments she received about her weight and the way she looked while her dad, former President Bill Clinton, was in office. Chelsea, 42, said that the “disgusting” comments didn’t sit right with her at all.
When the hosts asked how she felt when commentators like the late Rush Limbaugh began speaking about her weight, because of who her family was, Chelsea said that her parents would ask how it made her feel, and even at the time, she thought it was inappropriate. “Rush Limbaugh was nasty. The most infamous, but not the only, and yet, I never internalized that,” she said. “It was weird. I was 12, and there are these older men pontificating about how a 12-year-old looks, is weird, at best. It’s really disgusting and cruel.”
Earlier in the conversation, The View co-hosts were discussing another First Daughter Jenna Bush Hager revealing that she didn’t discuss weight with her kids, and they didn’t even know what “LB” stood for. The regular hosts asked Chelsea about if her parents discussed weight with her growing up, and she said that her mom, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, had a “strong emphasis on health” rather than weight. “I do remember my mom going on Weight Watchers when I was a kid, and even though it was called Weight Watchers, she always talked about it being part of her health,” she said. “I think that did help protect me then when I was 12-13, and my dad was running for office, and there were all sorts of largely older white men, commenting on my looks, on my weight, on my appearance.”
She said that through both of her parents helping to instill a “sense of self” and a “focus on health,” even at a young age, Chelsea realized. “That’s about them. That’s not about me.”
Chelsea’s time as a guest co-host came about a month after she stopped by The View as a guest at the table on March 2. During her interview, she was asked if she’d heard that her mom was planning to run for office again, but said she’d stand by her no matter what. “I haven’t heard those rumors or anything from her, but I will support her whatever she does, wherever she does it,” she said.