Shonda Rhimes and the Ladies of TGIT Endorse Hillary Clinton 

By Kara Brown  |  March 11, 2016 | 7:45pm
Politics

Shonda Rhimes and the all-female stars from her blockbuster #TGIT lineup have endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in a video released on Thursday evening.

Directed by Scandal star Tony Goldwyn, Kerry Washington, Viola Davis, Ellen Pompeo and Rhimes express their support for Clinton under some wildly flattering and very expensive-looking lighting. It was easy to see this coming after Clinton visited the Scandal set a couple weeks ago.

The video opens with the actresses describing their characters using words and phrases like: “brilliant,” “complex,” “overqualified,” “obsessively fights for justice,”and “gives a voice to the voiceless.”

But, in a twist, they’re also using those exact same words to describe Hillary Clinton! Shonda Rhimes adds that while she creates strong, fictional characters. “the real world has Hillary Clinton.”

Truly, this is a masterclass in pandering—getting four women who anchor a wildly popular night of television to cosign a woman who could become the first female president. Of course, that’s what most endorsements are. As Kate Dries noted after watching the clip, it would be interesting to know how ABC feels about this and whether they were involved in the decision process.

Is this melodramatic? Yes. Hillary Clinton doesn’t have to be an Olivia Pope-endorsed superhero to be qualified to be president of the United States.

At the same time, I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t at least a little convincing. I’m personally a fan of all the women involved and comparing Hillary to some of the strongest, most complicated female characters on television is obviously a great move. Plus, Kerry Washington is about to play another IRL female luminary and I ride hard for Shonda Rhimes and basically every decision she makes.

Smart move for everyone involved.

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