Europe must get a handle on immigration to combat a growing threat from rightwing populists, Hillary Clinton has said, calling on the continent’s leaders to send out a stronger signal showing they are “not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support”.
In an interview with the Guardian, the former Democratic presidential candidate praised the generosity shown by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, but suggested immigration was inflaming voters and contributed to the election of Donald Trump and Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
“I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame,” Clinton said, speaking as part of a series of interviews with senior centrist political figures about the rise of populists, particularly on the right, in Europe and the Americas.
Centrist heavyweights on the global rise of rightwing populism, and what can be done to stop it
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor, in New York, London and Rome
Clinton was left dumbfounded by her 2016 defeat to Donald Trump, while Brexit has upended Blair’s legacy. Composite: The Guardian Design Team
Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, Matteo Renzi: three of rightwing populism’s greatest scalps.
Clinton admits she was left dumbfounded by her 2016 election defeat at the hands of Donald Trump. Renzi’s centre-left party was defeated this year after a surge in the anti-establishment vote in Italy, a country he calls “the incubator” of populism.
Blair may not have lost at the ballot box, but his legacy, particularly on Europe, was upended in the Brexit referendum.
All three are shunned by sections of their own party that accuse them of being responsible for the failure of the centre-left to offer a sufficiently radical alternative.
But all three are still thinking deeply about rightwing populism – its causes and the threat it poses – the mistakes of the centre left, including their own, and how modern politics appears to be mobilising resentment towards a perceived elite.
To compare these remarks with her stated immigration policy in 2016, go here >>>>.
I have always been and remain a staunch advocate of comprehensive immigration reform that’s true to our values and treats every person with dignity, provides a pathway to full and equal citizenship…
and brings millions of hardworking people into the formal economy, fixes the family visa backlog, upholds the rule of law, and protects our borders and national security.
We passed bipartisan comprehensive reform when I was a senator, but House Republicans killed it. Since then, the GOP has refused to make progress and instead uses the issue to divide our country.
Trump has made it worse with cruel abuses at the border, detaining children and separating them from their families. It’s one of the most shameful moments in our history.
In a recent interview, I talked about how Europe must reject right-wing nationalism and authoritarianism, including by addressing migration with courage and compassion. I also gave a comprehensive speech about this last month.
On both sides of the Atlantic, we need reform. Not open borders, but immigration laws enforced with fairness and respect for human rights. We can’t let fear or bias force us to give up the values that have made our democracies both great and good.
In Europe, nationalists like Hungary’s Viktor Orban are exploiting this challenge to stoke fear and resentment. To defeat them and protect democracy, the EU needs a more comprehensive policy that builds societies that are both secure and welcoming.
Hillary Clinton may not be in The West Wing, but she’s definitely got an honorary lifetime Wing membership, and the latter has free Glossier products. Last night, at the Soho location of The Wing — the luxe, millennial-pink-tinted club for women — co-founder Audrey Gelman and Call Your Girlfriend host Aminatou Sow interviewed the former presidential candidate and “newest member of our coven,” in front of an audience of 400 cheering, kvelling, sometimes teary-eyed Wing women.
“What do you consider to be your legacy?” asked Gelman, wearing an elegant cropped gray pantsuit. “And before you answer, I just want to say, this is part of your legacy.” The audience broke out into exhilarated claps and whoops. “I think that literally every woman in this room who does any small act of courage during the day, like asks for a raise, or demands to live her life on her own terms, is part of your legacy, and I know we all thank you for that. I’m curious for your answer.”
“I don’t want to mess that up!” Clinton replied. “That was pretty great.”
Hillary Clinton is sequestered in a hotel room, giving a big television interview, when Mary Beard arrives at Claridge’s. While she waits outside on the sofa, though, it quickly becomes clear that the star of this conversation is the classicist. One by one, members of Clinton’s staff approach in reverent tones to declare her their heroine. Even a passing cameraman stops to pay court and say: “I love you!” Does this happen to Beard all the time? “Yes,” she laughs, “funnily enough, it does.”
Since the Cambridge professor began presenting TV programmes on the Romans nearly a decade ago, she has become world famous, as well as wildly popular for her robust refusal to stand for misogynistic online abuse. Trolls are publicly challenged; one was memorably shamed into taking Beard to lunch to apologise for calling her “a filthy old slut”. Her latest book, Women & Power: A Manifesto, brings an illuminating historical perspective to the contemporary abuse of powerful women. (Our meeting takes place in mid-October, before the #metoo revelations had begun to gather pace.)
Clinton is in London to talk about What Happened, her rivetingly candid if shell-shocked account of her defeat to Donald Trump in last year’s US presidential election. As soon as she appears, it becomes very hard to believe she lost because voters found her cold. She greets Beard with a whoop of delight, exclaims, “This is fun!” does a very, very funny impersonation of Trump’s voice and, over the course of an hour, laughs a lot.
Once seated, the physical contrast between the two women is arresting. Clinton folds her hands carefully before her and confines her movements to slow nods of the head, while Beard gesticulates energetically as she talks, her whole upper body pitching and swaying. But the chemistry between them crackles, and Clinton conveys the impression of someone keen to see what she can learn from the academic.
Hillary Clinton.Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Geisinger Symposium
Hillary Clinton says she’s trying to have more discussions with right-leaning media figures.
She largely avoided conservative media during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, has ruminated on her relationship with conservative media outlets during the campaign.
In an interview with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt released on Tuesday, Clinton — a longtime critic of right-wing media outlets — explained her aversion to appearing for interviews with right-leaning media, many of which made it known that the Clinton campaign repeatedly rebuffed or ignored interview requests.
When Hewitt asked why she avoided listening to or participating in interviews on conservative talk radio, Clinton said she was alienated by anger on such radio programs, as well as the various conspiracies pushed by some right-wing pundits.
“I’m a little allergic to the kind of bombast and craziness that I sometimes hear from others, because I think it has really undermined our ability to work together across partisan lines,” Clinton said.
She added: “We can have our differences, and I’ve always thought you were one of the people who was on that side — like, OK, I have real differences, I’m going to explain what I think, but even having me on your show today demonstrates that you’re somebody who wants to have a real discussion about the issues that we face.”
Hillary Clinton responded on Wednesday to news that the Trump administration is considering appointing a special counsel to investigate her alleged ties to the Uranium One deal, calling the move “a disastrous step into politicizing the Justice Department” and “such an abuse of power.”In an exclusive interview with Mother Jones, Clinton said such an investigation would have devastating consequences for the justice system in America. “If they send a signal that we’re going to be like some dictatorship, like some authoritarian regime, where political opponents are going to be unfairly, fraudulently investigated, that rips at the fabric of the contract we have, that we can trust our justice system,” Clinton said. “It will be incredibly demoralizing to people who have served at the Justice Department, under both Republicans and Democrats, because they know better. But it will also send a terrible signal to our country and the world that somehow we are giving up on the kind of values that we used to live by and we used to promote worldwide.”Read more and see video >>>>
A year after her defeat by Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton says “there are lots of questions about its legitimacy” due to Russian interference and widespread voter suppression efforts.In an interview with Mother Jones in downtown Manhattan, Clinton said Russian meddling in the election “was one of the major contributors to the outcome.” The Russians used “weaponized false information,” she said, in “a very successful disinformation campaign” that “wasn’t just influencing voters—it was determining the outcome.”
Republican efforts to make it harder to vote—through measures such as voter ID laws, shortened early voting periods, and new obstacles to registration—likewise “contributed to the outcome,” Clinton said. These moves received far less attention than Russian interference but arguably had a more demonstrable impact on the election result. According to an MIT study, more than 1 million people did not vote in 2016 because they encountered problems registering or at the polls. Clinton lost the election by a total of 78,000 votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
“In a couple of places, most notably Wisconsin, I think it had a dramatic impact on the outcome,” Clinton said of voter suppression.
Seth Meyers brought in a powerful ringer to help tell the jokes he can’t.
During Wednesday’s Late Night, the host and two of his female writers were doing a segment called “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell,” when they brought out Hillary Clinton to join them.
As Meyers set up a few jokes, the former presidential nominee brought it home with the punch line. “According to a recent report, koalas may be extinct by the year 2040,” said Meyers, to which Clinton responded, “And according to Fox News, that’s my fault.”
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took the stage in Ann Arbor Tuesday night for an hour-long, relaxed conversation with a nearly sold-out crowd.
She cracked some jokes, was self-deprecating, told charming stories about her grandkids, and easily connected with the supportive audience of more than 3,000 people.
THIS week’s edition of “The Economist Asks”, our flagship interview podcast, features an interview with Hillary Clinton. The full transcript, lightly edited for clarity, follows. Listen to the podcast here. For a full list of all our podcasts, click here.
Hello and welcome to The Economists Asks. I’m your host Anne McElvoy. This week we’re asking what stops a woman from becoming president of the United States. I’m here with Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, and together we’re talking to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, secretary of state and senator from New York. After a long career in law, policy and politics, Mrs Clinton, the former first lady from 1993 to 2001 had aspired to become the first female American president. But in one of the most dramatic races in US presidential history, she was defeated by Donald Trump in the elections nearly a year ago. “What happened?” is the title of her candid new book about why she lost.
She may be visiting across the pond, but Hillary Clinton is keeping up with Donald Trump’s comments. Yesterday he told the press that he hopes she runs again in 2020. Hillary hit back.
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Hillary Clinton’s Cover Letter to Congress on the ARB Report
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@U.S. Senate: Time to ratify LOST!
"... ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, which has provided the international framework for exploring these new opportunities in the Arctic. We abide by the international law that undergirds the convention, but we think the United States should be a member, because the convention sets down the rules of the road that protect freedom of navigation, provide maritime security, serve the interests of every nation that relies on sea lanes for commerce and trade, and also sets the framework for exploration for the natural resources that may be present in the Arctic." -HRC, 06-03-12, Tromso Norway
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“You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors. Eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard.” HRC
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What a difference one woman can make!
"...whether it’s here, in the absolute best embassy in the world, or whether it’s in Washington, or whether it’s elsewhere, what a difference one woman can make. And that woman is right here, the woman who needs no introduction, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton." 07.05.10 - Unidentified speaker, Embassy Yerevan
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“When people attack you, you always have to remember that a lot of what others say about you has a lot more to do about them than you.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton