Sen. Leach's daughter: Not a Clinton 'plant' at Haverford event

The 15-year-old daughter of Pennsylvania Democratic State Sen. Daylin Leach has been in the media spotlight in recent days as the girl with the red bow who was the first person to ask Hillary Clinton a question at the Democratic presidential candidate's event Tuesday in Haverford.

After Brennan Leach was identified as that girl, conspiracy theorists and some media outlets have questioned whether she was "planted" to do so by the Clinton campaign.

Brennan, a sophomore at the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, and her father, who represents parts of Delaware and Montgomery, told the Inquirer on Saturday that her question was not staged and that the response by some people in the country has been quite disturbing.

"It was really, really hard for me," said Brennan, adding that "it was definitely overwhelming" to receive hateful comments from thousands of people on the internet whom she didn't know.

"To me," the state senator said, "it just shows there are a disturbing number of unhinged people in this country."

He said he had gotten tens of thousands of hateful messages on Twitter and Facebook, which shows an "utter lack of human decency involved in some of those people." He said he hopes that by speaking out, they can put the issue to rest.

Father and daughter appeared on Michael Smerconish's CNN show Saturday morning. A well-spoken and composed Brennan told Smerconish: "In no way was I approached by Hillary's campaign or asked to ask a question. She did not know I was going to ask a question. She didn't know what I was going to say at all."

The teenager's question at Clinton's Haverford event, where the candidate sat on a stage in between Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, and the actress Elizabeth Banks, was greeted with loud applause by the audience and with praise by Clinton.

"At my school, body image is a really big issue for girls my age," Brennan said into a microphone. "I see with my own eyes the damage Donald Trump does when he talks about women and how they look. As the first female president, how would you undo some of that damage and help girls understand that they are so much more than just what they look like?"

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Clinton shouted, as the audience applauded.

"My opponent insulted Miss Universe," Clinton said. "I mean, how do you get more acclaimed than that."

Clinton added that women can't take Trump's comments seriously anymore. "We need to laugh at it. We need to refute it. We need to ignore it. And we need to stand up to it, and especially the bullying," Clinton said, her voice rising.

She said there were too many young women who were being bullied online and shamed and mistreated.

Brennan told the Inquirer she's a "political junkie" and came up with the question on her own. Her parents helped her edit it.

"I wrote it down to get everything just the way I wanted it," knowing it would be her "one shot" to ask the Democratic presidential candidate a question, she said.

She said she had only briefly met Clinton once at a Philadelphia rally - she was one of about 300 people in line. Clinton didn't know who she was on Tuesday, Brennan said.

She said she had received a lot of positive attention Tuesday for her question to Clinton. Then, on Wednesday, she "started getting hate and horrible messages from people all over the internet."

"What hurt me the most was what Megyn Kelly said on her show," Brennan said of the Fox News anchor's on-air suggestion that the Clinton campaign was planting questions and that Brennan was part of an act.

Kelly, who has previously been the subject of Trump's abusive comments toward women and who has stood up to him, was someone Brennan said she respected.

"But to have her bash me on national television about the same issue, it was really hard for me," the teenager said.

Snopes.com, which investigates rumors, found that there's no evidence that Brennan was "planted" in the audience by the Clinton campaign.

Asked what she would like to do career-wise in the future, Brennan told the Inquirer: "My dream job would be the second woman president."

shawj@phillynews.com

215-854-2592 @julieshawphilly