Did Hillary Clinton break the law during her infamous subway ride?

Did Hillary break a carnal NYC subway rule?
(Image credit: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images))

On Thursday morning, Hillary Clinton rode New York City's 4 Train from Yankee Stadium to 170th Street, eliciting jokes and Michele Bachmann tutorials after failing to swipe through the turnstile with the grace of a seasoned city-dweller. However, some are now pointing fingers at Clinton for allegedly getting away with breaking a law — because in New York, it is technically illegal to campaign on the subway.

It is up for debate if Clinton was actually "campaigning" — but Ali Gharib at The Guardian argues that by "glad-handing on the train itself," Clinton's short ride was "all the more galling because there are actual, regular New Yorkers trying to make ends meet who are arrested for violating the same rules that Clinton disregards with impunity."

"When performers are playing music they are thought to be committing a crime and arrested, and apparently when Hillary Clinton does public speaking on a train car that is not considered a violation of the statute," Matthew Christian of BuskNY told The Guardian.

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Still, some think that getting fired up about Clinton's ride is just looking for something to be angry about. "I've ridden the subway in NYC for almost 30 years. I have never, not once, seen a fine handed out for any type of performance. And I have probably seen hundreds," one Reddit user pointed out.

Watch Clinton's subterranean New York adventure below. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.