Clinton Defends University Speaking Fee of $200G; Donates All Money to Family Foundation (UPDATE)
ByFormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has defended her "high-dollar" college speaking fee during a recent book promotion event in London.
Promoting her book "Hard Choices," Clinton said that she donates all the money she earns from college events to her family foundation.
"All of the fees have been donated to the Clinton Foundation for it to continue its life-changing and life-saving work. So it goes from a foundation at a university to another foundation," Clinton told ABC News.
Clinton reportedly receives approximately $200,000 for each speaking event. In recent times, her speaking fees from talk shows at the University of Miami (February), UCLA ($300,000 - March), UCONN (April) has come under fire, NY Daily News reports.
Clinton's $225,000 speaking fee for an upcoming fundraiser at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in October sparked uproar among students. The campus community urged Hillary Clinton to either speak for free or donate all or part of the $225,000 fee back to students.
"You could give scholarships to thousands of students, benefit research on campus, give more students grants for research and studying," said Daniel Waqar, Student Relations Director for the UNLV Student Government, Ralston Reports.
Reacting to criticisms, Clinton said that her speaking engagements reveal new ideas to help bolster the economy and lower income inequality.
"It's been my experience," Clinton said. "They're not worried about my speaking or my household, they're worried about their own. And that's the kind of debate I think I'm furthering as I go around the country speaking."