Known for revealing how the sausage is made, WikiLeaks released a trove of emails last week—and one purported revelation in particular exposes a different kind of pork barrel politics.
The emails are purportedly from the Hillary Clinton campaign, and both the campaign and U.S. intelligence officials blame the Russians for the cyber attack. Russia denies the allegations; NBC News has not been able to independently authenticate the emails.
The Clinton campaign said Friday they "are not going to confirm the authenticity of stolen documents," but there is one document that is probably not going to start an international incident.
In a Detroit dispatch reportedly from campaign spokesman Nick Merill last March, the traveling press secretary details Clinton’s stops at churches and schools in the metro-Detroit area. In the email, Merill recaps a litany of campaigning efforts, including endorsements from pastors and bishops before declaring the campaigning efforts a “very good morning.”
“On a personal note, I just had two Coney Island hot dogs at the famous Lafayette Coney Island next to the hotel,” the email reads. “I highly recommend. Bring your defibrillator, or ask to borrow one from USSS (United States Secret Service).”
A Coney dog, native to Detroit, is a classic hot dog in a bun topped with chili sauce, raw white onion and a zigzag of yellow mustard—a far cry from the Chicago-style dog of Clinton’s hometown.
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This is not the first time hot dogs have gotten the spotlight in this contentious election season.
President Barack Obama recently announced in an interview with chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain that ketchup on a hot dog is “not acceptable past the age of 8." The remark even prompted a response from Chicago-based Oscar Mayer.
Hillary Clinton, who was born in Chicago and raised in nearby Park Ridge, has not been as vocal as Obama about hot dogs.
