Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once again took on Donald Trump’s supporters, this time comparing them in an interview to “cult members” who need to be “deprogrammed.”
She made the comment while complaining about a “nasty brand of politics” that has taken root, taking aim at “MAGA extremists” and asking what it would take for Trump’s most loyal supporters to “break with him” .
Her comments about Trump’s supporters had overtones of 2016, when she said you could put about half of Trump’s supporters in a “basket of deplorables.” That was a statement that many Clinton party members came to regret as Republicans took advantage of it to join forces.
“So there’s clearly a common sense, you know, a healthy part of the Republican Caucus in the House of Representatives. But I think they are intimidated,” Clinton said told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, during a volatile week in Congress as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was impeached after Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a motion seeking his removal.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about ‘MAGA extremists’ in a new interview, comparing them to ‘cult members’ who need to be ‘deprogrammed’
She was referring to the group of Republicans who joined Democrats to extend government funding for 45 days and avoid a shutdown, the act that hastened McCarthy’s impeachment.
She then compared the political battles of the past to more modern clashes — having lived through her husband’s failed impeachment, the Whitewater investigation, the Benghazi hearings and her own ferocious 2016 campaign experience.
“I mean, we had very strong supporters in both parties in the past, and we had very bitter fights over all kinds of issues, gun control and climate change and the economy and taxes, but there wasn’t this little tail of extremism waving. you know, wagging the Republican Party dog, as it is now,” she said.
“And unfortunately, so many of those extremists, those MAGA extremists, are taking their marching orders from Donald Trump, who by no measure has any credibility left.”
She then brought up Trump’s four criminal charges, plus other legal challenges, such as the potential $250 million fines he is fighting in court in New York this week.
‘He only does it for himself. He is now defending himself in civil and criminal actions. And when will they break up with him? You know, because at some point there may have to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members. But something has to be done and how do you do that?’ she said.
Amanpour, a former foreign affairs correspondent, smiled and chuckled during her “deprogramming” comment, then wondered how the situation could ever change.
Clinton made the comments in a conversation with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared Donald Trump’s supporters to a ‘cult’ and proposed ‘formal deprogramming’
The comments from Clinton, who had her official portrait unveiled at the State Department, had echoes of her “basket of deplorables” remark during the 2016 campaign
Clinton’s comments come as Trump has continued to rise in the polls even as he faces multiple criminal charges
Trump has been able to rely on his loyal support during his presidency and post-presidency. He campaigned in Iowa this month to persuade people to join him in a caucus
Trump has a one-point lead over President Obama in the RealClearPolitics polling average
“Right now, unfortunately, I think he’s going to be the nominee. We have to beat him,” Clinton responded.
Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for the Make America Great Again PAC, denounced Clinton’s comments, calling the idea her “reeducation camp proposal.”
“President Trump has said countless times that they are only coming after him because he is in the way of them coming after you – and Hillary Clinton just confirmed that to be true,” she said. ‘Tens of millions of Americans will reject the Democratic Party’s re-education camp agenda in November 2024 if we Donald Trump the 47th President of the United States.”
Clinton, who was defeated by Trump in 2016, spoke of the deep “psychological” bond between Trump and many of his supporters.
Trump famously said in Iowa in 2016, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and I wouldn’t lose voters, okay?”
“It’s a classic story of an authoritarian populist who really has a handle on the emotional, psychological needs and desires of a segment of the population,” Clinton said. “And the base of the Republican Party, for whatever combination of reasons – and it’s emotional and psychological – sees him as someone who speaks for them, and they are determined that they will continue to vote for him, to attend his rallies, his merchandise because he and his very negative, nasty brand of politics resonate with them for whatever reason,” she said.
Clinton made her “deplorables” comment at a fundraiser in New York in 2016, in the middle of the fall campaign for the White House, when Trump’s crowded rallies were still a nascent phenomenon.
“You know, just to be a gross generalist, you could put half of Trump’s supporters in what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?’ Clinton said. ‘The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it. And unfortunately there are such people. And he lifted them up.”
Trump defeated Clinton in the electoral college, although she received more votes than him nationally. Now, in a sign that is worrying for Democrats, Trump leads President Joe Biden by about one percentage point in the RealClearPolitics polling average.