Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Thursday to talk about why Donald Trump’s candidacy poses a continued threat to democracy—and the media’s crucial role in pointing that out.
“I don’t think the press has done enough to basically say, okay, the circus is here, you can watch the circus, but let’s tell you what that means,” Clinton said. “Let’s talk to people who have a real understanding of how dictatorships evolve.”
She also gave an easy-to-understand breakdown of how the MAGA movement’s fascism could become normalized.
“People did not take the kind of threats that we saw in the 1930s as seriously as they should,” Clinton said, pointing out that institutional checks and balances can only provide so much protection from “a determined demagogue” who enjoys the support of his political party and the richest members of society who are most interested in getting even richer.
Clinton, whose warnings about Trump went largely unheeded by media outlets in 2016, said she understood why people didn’t take her words “as gospel,” but that we now have years of evidence exposing Trump as a danger to our democratic processes.
“Because someone who will not accept the validity of an election is someone who doesn’t believe in elections,” Clinton warned. “He believes in his own power, his own right to power, and his demand that he be installed regardless of whether he gets the votes or not.”
Hillary Clinton: You know, Joe, I, I think you make a really important point. I mean it’s one thing to cover the circus, and the circus is covered—I mean people can’t stop covering the circus. Every utterance, every insult, every outrageous action or comment, it gets covered. The context is often missing. What does that really mean? And I think it’s imperative, especially for members of the press who understand, as you were just pointing out, the world has been here before.
People did not take the kind of threats that we saw in the 1930s as seriously as they should, including American journalists. You know, people were taking at face value that, oh, this can be controlled. He may have said some outrageous things, but, you know, the institutions will hold.
A determined demagogue, unfortunately supported by members of his political party, other enablers, people who care more about a future tax cut than the sanctity of the Constitution, are falling in line behind him. They are trying to excuse some of the most outrageous things that you just recited. And I don’t think the press has done enough to basically say, okay, the circus is here, you can watch the circus, but let’s tell you what that means. Let’s talk to people who have a real understanding of how dictatorships evolve. Let’s look at the people that he admires and what they’ve already done.
You know, back in 2016, we didn’t have interviews with him. We didn’t have a track record of four years in office. You know, there was a lot of speculation. And, you know, I understood that people wouldn’t take what I said necessarily as gospel about what I thought could happen. I get that.
But now: We know. We’ve seen him and we’ve heard him. And so we need to do a better job of making it absolutely clear that someone who says these things, you know, maybe he wouldn’t jail all of his political opponents. One is one too many. Maybe he wouldn’t try to force out of business, you know, members of the press who didn’t agree with him. One is one too many. We could go down the line. And maybe this would be our last election. Because someone who will not accept the validity of an election is someone who doesn’t believe in elections. He believes in his own power, his own right to power, and his demand that he be installed regardless of whether he gets the votes or not.
Navigator collects, analyzes, and distributes real data on progressive messaging. The Hub Project’s Bryan Bennett and Gabriela Parra talk with Kerry about what they are seeing in their research this election cycle, and which messaging can help progressive candidates win elections in 2024—and beyond.
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