Chelsea Clinton's Tragic, Real-Life Story Is Just Sad

The following article contains mentions of mass violence.

Growing up in the public eye as America's first kid is a strange experience, and only a select handful of people — like Malia and Sasha Obama or Barron Trump — can relate to it. While the presidents' children have gotten to live in the White House, travel the world, and meet countless influential figures, there is also a darker side to this life, and Chelsea Clinton can unfortunately attest to this.

She's been in the public eye her entire life, but especially so since her father Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in the presidential election when she was just 12 years old. Clinton has had a stunning transformation since then and made a name for herself, but she has also been forced to endure years of unfair treatment from the public simply because of her parents' prominence. From scathing verbal abuse to rumors that spread like wildfire, the tragic circumstances Clinton has had to deal with in her life are just sad.

It's one thing to be picked on by fellow classmates in elementary school — something Chelsea Clinton experienced — but another thing entirely to be bullied by adult members of the public as a little kid. "I've had so much vitriol flung at me for as long as I can literally remember, people saying awful things to me even as a child," she told The Guardian in May 2018. Now on the other side of it, Clinton can understand why she was targeted, adding, "[S]ometimes it's because I'm just the person that they happen to see and recognize, and they're angry ... Sometimes they're mad at me because of something that my mom or dad did."

The unwarranted hate sadly had a major impact on Clinton's childhood. "I was very aware of comments about my appearance in the media when I was young," the president's daughter explained during an August 2018 interview with The Big Issue. "[I]t was these older men saying these mean things to a 12-year-old girl. I mean, it was crazy." As she got older, Clinton continued to be the target of harsh words from the press and political commentators, but she had at that point learned: "[W]hen we're being verbally abused by other people, it's not about who we are, it's all about the bullies."

Being a teenage girl is hard enough, with all the concerns around your changing body, drama at school, and whether your classmate will finally ask you out. Sadly, Chelsea Clinton's teen years in the White House were far more difficult because she was constantly dealing with vitriol from the public. Mocking her became so normalized that she became the butt of a "Wayne's World" sketch on "Saturday Night Live" in 1992 when she was only 13 years old. The segment received criticism from the public and was removed from further airings of the show; however, unfortunately, the damage had been done.

In September 2022, on the first episode of Clinton and her mom Hillary's Apple TV+ show "Gutsy" (via Newsweek), the former first daughter revealed the impact the jokes had on her. "When 'SNL' made fun of me, I was like, 'Wow. A group of adults, sat in a room, all decided this was a good idea.'" Clinton remarked. "Nobody thought like, 'Maybe we shouldn't make fun of children.'" For a long time, she said she struggled to appreciate comedy at all and, when asked, couldn't name a comedian she likes currently.

Every family has a wild family vacation story or two, but Chelsea Clinton's is certainly one for the books. While some people can probably recall their parents accidentally leaving them at the grocery store as a child, her experience trumps this tenfold. While Clinton and her mom Hillary were playing a game with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" in September 2022, the former first lady recounted the time she and Bill Clinton mistakenly left their daughter behind while visiting the Kremlin in Moscow.

"I hope she doesn't remember this because it was pretty traumatic," she prefaced. "We took her to Russia when we went on a state visit when Bill was president." Hillary explained that following the "formal goodbyes," she and her husband were ushered into a limousine to return to the airport without realizing their daughter wasn't with them. "[C]an you imagine?" she gasped. "Leaving my only child in the Kremlin, especially with everything that has happened?" Clinton assured her mom that she did remember being left behind but in a lighthearted way to show it was in the past.

The truth about Chelsea Clinton is that public attention wasn't necessarily new to her when her father became president, considering he had been in politics since before she was born. Understandably, this meant she was often cautious of how she came across and wanted to represent her family well, but she wound up ruffling a few feathers when she ultimately went off to college in September 1997.

At the time, an editorial segment published in The New York Times documented Clinton's arrival at Stanford University. While journalist Philip Taubman highlighted the excitement as countless well-wishers arrived to watch her parents see her off, he also noted that she likely made more of a splash than intended. "All the talk out here about treating Chelsea Clinton like any other Stanford freshman is well intentioned but unrealistic," Taubman wrote. "The dislocation and security that came with her arrival made the difference clear."

In addition to the heightened security surrounding Clinton's arrival, her dorm room had to be fitted with precautionary features like bulletproof glass and hallway cameras before she moved in. Unfortunately, all the attention meant Clinton couldn't simply blend in as a normal freshman at Stanford. After all, what student could ignore the fact that they might see the president's daughter in class?

Even if you weren't around at the time, you're probably aware that Bill Clinton had his fair share of controversies during his presidency. One of which resulted in an infamous quote from the former president: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," in reference to Monica Lewinsky. As it was later revealed, Clinton did indeed have an affair with the White House intern, and he was publicly disgraced.

With the whole world now aware of her father's infidelity, Chelsea Clinton faced an entirely different form of public scrutiny. It wouldn't have been surprising if her parents had divorced following the scandal, but Hillary Clinton decided to remain by her husband's side and keep their family unit intact. "She's all right," the first lady said about Chelsea on NBC's "Today" show (via CNN) in January 1998, emphasizing that she was handling the news surprisingly well. "She has seen many examples of it in her short life. So it's not a pleasant experience, but it's given her the sort of grounding to be able to see what this is and get through it," Hillary added. Eleven months later, President Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice in relation to his repeated denial of his affair.

After Chelsea Clinton received her undergraduate degree at Stanford, she waved goodbye to America for a time and hopped across the pond in 2001. And who could blame her, with the entire country unable to move on from her father's affair and subsequent impeachment still in the rearview mirror? Whereas Clinton had certain rules to follow at the White House and at Stanford, she didn't have to keep up appearances as much when she enrolled at the University of Oxford for her master's.

But even in England, she still couldn't escape the horde of paparazzi. And, even more troubling, the gossip columns that tore her to shreds. Tabloids like The Sun and Daily Mail were hot on Clinton's trail wherever she went, paying particular attention to her nights out. "Bill's girl is going ... going ... gone!" one headline read, insinuating the then-22-year-old had too much to drink that night.

During an interview with Women's Wear Daily at Donatella Versace's post-show party in March 2002, Clinton remarked, "The press is still all over me in London, but on the Continent I can do what I want." Which, of course, is exactly what the press was hoping for, given the publication's details of her "stripper-style" dancing with her boyfriend that night.

Even after growing up, earning two degrees, and joining her mother's presidential campaign in 2008, Chelsea Clinton couldn't catch a break. At this point, the then-27-year-old was used to harsh criticism and sometimes even shocking remarks, and they seemed to just keep on coming. During an MSNBC broadcast in February 2008 (via The Guardian), anchorman David Shuster commented on the work Clinton had been doing for Hillary Clinton's campaign, including making speeches at colleges and appealing to voters.

"Doesn't it seem like Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" he asked. Obviously, this was a wildly inappropriate comment, and although Shuster later apologized, he was ultimately suspended by the network. Hillary responded to the remark about her daughter by telling an ABC affiliate, "I'm a mom first. I'm a candidate second. And, you know, I really am troubled by this pattern of behavior and comments that you hear."

After Chelsea Clinton's maternal grandfather died in 1993, she developed a close relationship with her grandmother, Dorothy Rodham. "My grandmother and I spent a lot of time in Washington together," she told Vogue in August 2012. "And then she was diagnosed with colon cancer four days after I graduated from Stanford." Clinton was understandably shaken, so she decided to move into the hospital with Rodham to spend as much time as possible with her. "Although I clearly wish she hadn't had to go through that, that was the first time where we really talked about everything," the former first daughter remarked. They loved to read together and drink margaritas, and Clinton credited her grandmother with challenging her to do more with her life.

Tragically, Rodham died in November 2011, and with it came a long period of mourning for her granddaughter. In speaking with Glamour in October 2013, Clinton said, "I've never been so lost as I was when she passed." But her grandmother's death also pushed her and her husband Marc Mezvinsky to reevaluate their lives. "We sat down and said, 'Here's what we want to do.' The first thing on the list was simple: We want, God willing, to start a family," Clinton stated.

The "nepo baby" label can immediately tarnish the credibility and diminish the talent of an actor, a musician, or in Chelsea Clinton's case, an NBC correspondent. After working closely on her mother's presidential campaign and receiving her master's in international relations, the general public were still quick to scrutinize her new position as a reporter in late 2011. But it wasn't necessarily about Clinton's lack of qualifications — it was because many assumed she was hired purely out of nepotism.

During a conversation with The Telegraph in June 2014, after becoming vice chair of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the former president's daughter explained how difficult her career moves had been. "It is frustrating, because who wants to grow up and follow their parents?" she said. "I've tried really hard to care about things that were very different from my parents." Despite her best efforts, working in public health, finance, and technology, she ultimately felt drawn toward similar work. "I will just always work harder [than anybody else] and hopefully perform better," Clinton remarked. "And hopefully, over time, I preempt and erase whatever expectations people have of me not having a good work ethic, or not being smart, or not being motivated."

You can't believe everything the gossip columns try to put out there. Case in point: Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky's marriage is (and has been) in a much better place than they would've led you to believe back in 2011. Her husband's parents are also involved in politics, and she first met Mezvinsky when they were teenagers at a Democratic political retreat back in 1993. However, despite attending both Stanford and Oxford at the same time, it wasn't until 2005 that Clinton and Mezvinsky began dating. The two tied the knot five years later, and it sadly didn't take long for rumors to spring up around the couple.

As the former first daughter's chief of staff, Bari Lurie, told Vogue during Clinton's August 2012 profile, "[W]hat put a strain on them was that the stories were being written because none of us were paying attention to it." The press immediately caught on to the fact that, shortly after their wedding, Mezvinsky had rented a place in Wyoming to go skiing and the pair were living separately during his vacation. Murmurs of divorce spread quickly and Clinton was bombarded with questions about the longevity of her relationship. "It was an eye-opening lesson," Lurie continued. "Chelsea realized, 'Maybe I need to get out there and demystify myself a little bit.'"

Not many know the surprising truth about Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton's friendship. Despite both being first daughters and coming from well-to-do families, it may not seem like the two would have much in common. But they were actually good friends long before Trump's dad was president. Things seemed to shift, though, after their parents went head to head in the 2016 presidential election. "Our friendship started before politics, so it will last beyond politics," Clinton told E! News in November 2016, just one day before election day. "We clearly have different views about what we think is the right answer and the right direction for our country," she added, acknowledging that her family is deeply rooted in the Democratic Party, whereas Trump is a Republican.

Although Clinton claimed politics wouldn't get in the way of her friendship with Trump, everything changed shortly after her conversation with E! News. While appearing with her mom Hillary on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" in September 2022, she revealed that the last time she spoke with Trump was back in November 2016. "We were definitely friends," Clinton said. "And then she went to the dark side."

Even today, Chelsea Clinton serves as a reminder of the feelings people have about her parents. On March 15, 2019, a gunman killed 51 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand, leaving the country in a state of shock and mourning. Wanting to pay her respects to the victims of the massacre, Clinton attended a vigil in New York City the following day, but her presence quickly overshadowed the moment.

The previous month, the former president's daughter criticized a tweet condemning Minnesota State Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali refugee, for what some perceived as anti-Semitic comments. "Co-signed as an American," Clinton tweeted. "We should expect all elected officials, regardless of party, and all public figures to not traffic in anti-Semitism." This sparked backlash, and when she arrived at the vigil, several students from New York University confronted her for her words. "This, right here, is a result of a massacre stoked by people like you and the words that you put out into the world," one student said to Clinton (via The Washington Post). "And I want you to know that, and I want you to feel that deep down inside. Forty-nine people [which later became 51] died because of the rhetoric you put out there."

Fortunately, Clinton kept her composure, simply apologizing that the college senior felt that way. "Certainly, it was never my intention. I do believe words matter. I believe we have to show solidarity," she added.

Parents often experience judgment from others, even if they aren't famous. However, constant media attention often leaves celebrities like Meghan Markle, Gabrielle Union, and Mila Kunis at the mercy of mom-shaming comments online. Since she became a mother, Chelsea Clinton has become the target of ridicule for her parenting — particularly due to the fact that she and her husband Marc Mezvinsky rely on a nanny to help with child care because they both work.

In 2016, Clinton was helping with her mother's campaign and couldn't attend her daughter Charlotte's first day of kindergarten. Rather than mentioning how wonderful it was that Mezvinsky was there for his daughter, several outlets simply criticized Clinton and her own mother for not seeing Charlotte off or watching baby Aidan.

During an interview with People in October 2020, she revealed how much the pandemic impacted her feelings about parenting. Clinton said she isn't sure whether it's "possible to be a mom without mom guilt," explaining that she struggled to help her son with his online schooling while she was working from home. "I feel like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not doing either thing very well at the moment,'" she said. Clinton still tries to be patient with herself, though. "[There's] [l]ots of guilt and navigation and just trying to do the best we can every day, and some days the best is going to be better than others," she remarked.

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