• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechHillary Clinton

This Photo of Hillary Clinton Reading About Mike Pence’s Emails Went Viral

By
Rachel King
Rachel King
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Rachel King
Rachel King
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 5, 2017, 10:22 AM ET
Hillary Clinton
FILE - In this March 12, 2012, file photo, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checks her mobile phone after her address to the Security Council at United Nations headquarters. In a rare step, the FBI on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, published scores of pages about confidential interviews with Hillary Clinton and others from its recently closed investigation into the former secretary of state’s use of a private email server.. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)Richard Drew—AP

Is “schadenfreude” trending? If it isn’t already, it probably will be soon.

That’s because a photo of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reading about the hack on Vice President Mike Pence’s emails when he was Governor of Indiana has the Internet in a tizzy this weekend.

As the unconfirmed but now-viral story goes, a passenger on the same short-haul flight as Clinton and her trusted advisor Huma Abedin from Boston’s Logan Airport to New York’s LaGuardia on Friday snapped an almost unbelievable smartphone photo. (Pictures, or it didn’t happen, right?) In the split-second moment, the passenger captured a relatively stable, non-fuzzy photo of Clinton reading that day’s issue of USA Today, with the headline above the fold: “Pence used personal email in office.”

https://twitter.com/thelastwalt/status/837783591253749760

The Indianapolis Star last week reported that Pence used a private AOL email account to conduct public business and homeland security matters as Indiana’s governor, and that his personal email account was hacked last summer.

Given how the debate over Clinton’s email practices and private servers were at the core of the bitter rhetoric of the 2016 presidential election, the Pence situation has critics questioning if there is a double standard in the public response—as well as that by Pence and Republican leaders—so far. Pence’s office has since responded that there was “no comparison whatsoever” between his use of a private email account for state business and Clinton’s while she was Secretary of State.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

At the very least, it has many Internet users batting around the word “schadenfreude,” a German term referring to pleasure derived by someone from another person’s bad luck or misfortune. Thus, this single photo—much like another photo of Clinton reading while traveling—has also spawned numerous memes, many of which can be found on Twitter (TWTR) under the hashtag “#ButHerEmails.”

Hillary sees headline, head explodes. #ButHerEmails pic.twitter.com/f0L9ZMafAv

— Jay Kuo (@nycjayjay) March 3, 2017

Clinton – Used private email – So did Pence

Clinton – Got hacked – So did Pence

Clinton – Wears pantsuits – So does Pence

— Mark Maira (@MarkMaira) March 3, 2017

https://twitter.com/RaulieGonzo/status/837464607090487296

https://twitter.com/Rob_Flaherty/status/837775028963917824

BUT HER EMAILS! https://t.co/JgNXTrVDFh

— Mashable (@mashable) March 4, 2017

And in an even further meta moment, USA Today followed up with a report on the photo, too.

About the Author
By Rachel King
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
'I just don't have a good feeling about this': Top economist Claudia Sahm says the economy quietly shifted and everyone's now looking at the wrong alarm
By Eleanor PringleJanuary 31, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Ryan Serhant starts work at 4:30 a.m.—he says most people don’t achieve their dreams because ‘what they really want is just to be lazy’
By Preston ForeJanuary 31, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
Ford CEO has 5,000 open mechanic jobs with up to 6-figure salaries from the shortage of manually skilled workers: 'We are in trouble in our country'
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJanuary 31, 2026
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Alexis Ohanian walked out of the LSAT 20 minutes in, went to a Waffle House, and decided he was 'gonna invent a career.' He founded Reddit
By Preston ForeJanuary 31, 2026
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Right before Trump named Warsh to lead the Fed, Powell seemed to respond to some of his biggest complaints about the central bank
By Jason MaJanuary 30, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Meet the first CEO of the IRS: A Jamie Dimon protege facing a $5 trillion test this tax season
By Shawn TullyJanuary 31, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Latest in Tech

dewar
CommentaryLeadership
The AI adoption story is haunted by fear as today’s efficiency programs look like tomorrow’s job cuts. Leaders need to win workers’ trust
By Carolyn DewarFebruary 1, 2026
1 minute ago
trader
Investingbubble
The ‘smart money’ isn’t acting like we’re in a bubble, top economist says. The AI ballgame is in its ‘early innings’
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 1, 2026
20 minutes ago
Big TechMark Zuckerberg
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative cut 70 jobs as the Meta CEO’s philanthropy goes all in on mission to ‘cure or prevent all disease’
By Sydney LakeFebruary 1, 2026
2 hours ago
The founder and CEO of $1.25 billion AI identity verification platform Incode, Ricardo Amper
SuccessGen Z
CEO of $1.25 billion AI company says he hires Gen Z because they’re ‘less biased’ than older generations—too much knowledge is actually bad, he warns
By Emma BurleighFebruary 1, 2026
3 hours ago
Several pictures of people receiving medical treatments including a facelift and oxygen therapy.
HealthSuper Bowl
Hims and Hers Super Bowl ad highlights ‘uncomfortable truth’ about elite healthcare for the rich and ‘broken’ system for the rest
By Jacqueline MunisFebruary 1, 2026
4 hours ago
Elon Musk sits with his hands on his knees in front of a blue "World Economic Forum" background.
Economythe future of work
Musk’s fantasy for a future where work is optional just got more real: UK minister calls for universal basic income to cushion AI-related job losses
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 1, 2026
4 hours ago