It was a list of requirements worthy of a Hollywood diva, from the temperature of the water in the carafe, to the shape of the chair cushions and the crispness of the crudites, nothing was left to chance when Hillary Clinton came to speak the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) earlier this year.
The new details of the former secretary of state’s extensive personal requirements for one of her $300,000 ($351,000) speaking engagements emerged on Thursday, leading to suggestions that she has become increasingly out-of-touch with ordinary people.
“Coffee, tea, room temp sparkling and still water, diet ginger ale, hummus and sliced fruit,” requested Mrs Clinton’s advance team, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post under freedom of information laws.
A week before the speech, the Clinton team arrived on a reconnaissance mission, throwing out the lectern the university offered and sending officials to find a replacement and a correctly-sized university seal to go on the front. Mrs Clinton’s representatives also demanded she have access to a computer, printer and a scanner, which the university had to buy specially for the event, which was privately endowed by Meyer Luskin, an investor.
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