The former Secretary of State stopped by CNN This Morning on Thursday for a wide-ranging interview, but still softball. Don Lemon asked her to “Speak to Us about” the threat to democracy all over the world, including America.
Lemon asked Clinton to impart her wisdom at the end of the interview. This is a global phenomenon that is occurring if. What can we do? Talk to us about it.
Clinton recognized a pattern in the state of the world when he spoke of it.
We have seen Xi’s power in China consolidate. Even what was once a collective power base is now concentrated in one person. We are witnessing Putin abuse and misuse this power to literally rewrite the history. We saw a close election in Brazil and we are seeing the uprisings in Iran. This is a time of great flux and the United States should stand strongly for our values, democracy, freedom, opportunity, and equality, instead of getting involved in this culture war driven primarily by the political opportunism people on the Republican side.
Responsive politicians can address domestic and international issues. But whatever Lemon and Clinton think about Bolsonaro, their replacement will be a corrupt socialist who was imprisoned and who makes excuses to Putin. Clinton said, “So the best thing that we can do is to lead the world between democracy and autocracy and I hope that that we’ll start that Tuesday.”
Kaitlan Collins, the co-host of the interview, mentioned the “reset” earlier in the interview. However she didn’t think to ask her next logical question about why she and former President Obama chose that path. Instead, she did the exact opposite and praised Clinton’s tenure.
Secretary Clinton, you are very familiar with Putin. I mean, since you were secretary of state, you had to reset relations with Russia. You know, many people don’t realise that you wrote this memo to the White House at the end your time as secretary. It stated, “Don’t flatter Putin with high-level attention. He declined my invitation for a summit. Don’t seem too eager to work together.
Collins then asked Clinton if she believed Putin would use nuclear weapons. Clinton replied that she didn’t believe that at this point and suggested that Putin’s invasion in Ukraine would have been more successful if Donald Trump had been re-elected.
Lemon also suggested that Clinton had not actually failed to list alleged Democratic achievements. Instead, it was a messaging problem. “I wonder why voters don’t get that… That is a sign that something is wrong here, that Democrats in a blue state such as New York are nervous. Why isn’t this message getting through?”
Clinton somehow managed to swing and miss even at that softball, repeating the “it’s more of a turningout issue” cliche and predicting that Democrats would win in New York, while saying nothing about the rest of the country.
These segments were sponsored and produced by Humana.
Here’s a transcript from the November 3 show:
CNN This Morning
11/3/2022
8:06 AM ET
DON LEMON: I’m curious why voters don’t get that. Listen, I’m referring to the fact that you will be campaigning alongside New York Governor Kathy Hochul, along with the vice-president, for her and Letitia Jam, which is Hochul. This is a state where you were elected. It is a blue state. That is a sign that something is wrong here, that Democrats are nervous about New York being a blue state. Why isn’t this message getting through? Why is Kathy Hochul, or Lee Zeldin, the Republican congressman running for governor, so close to the former?
HILLARY CLINTON : I think it’s more of an issue of turnout, Don. Every poll I’ve seen shows Kathy Hochul ahead, and I expect her victory on Tuesday. However, a midterm election can be very difficult for the party in power. We have seen it happen over and over in recent history, regardless of who is president. Our job is to get our voters to vote. We will win if they vote.
…
KAITLAN COLLINS. Secretary Clinton, you are very familiar with Putin. I mean, right from the time you were secretary of state, the reset relations between Russia and the United States. You know, many people don’t realize that you wrote this memo to the White House at the end your time as secretary. It stated, “Don’t flatter Putin with high-level attention. He declined my invitation for a summit with the president. Don’t seem too eager to collaborate. Do you worry that officials are more concerned now than they were months back about the possibility that he would use nukes?
CLINTON: At this point, I don’t believe so. You must always assess the risks and decide what messages to send to Putin. He understands, you know, force, he understands push back. He will go as far and as far as he can. He is honest to his face. I believe that he would have expected Trump to withdraw us from NATO if he had been reelected. This would have made the invasion of Ukraine much more smoother. You have to stand up against him. He is a bully. You have to keep evaluating what he might do. But, at this point, I’m not convinced that he will.
…
LEMON: But, if we look at the situation in Iran, and what’s going on in Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro, etc., it’s clear that democracy is in peril all over the globe, including the United States. Secretary Clinton. This is a global problem that is occurring if. What can we do? Talk to us about it.
CLINTON: Well, Don, you’re right. We are currently in a struggle between democracy, autocracy. We have seen Xi’s power in China consolidate. Even the once-collective power base is now concentrated in one person.
We are witnessing Putin abuse and misuse this power to literally rewrite the history. We saw a close election in Brazil and we are seeing the uprisings in Iran. This is a time of great flux and the United States should stand strongly for our values, democracy, freedom, opportunity, and equality, instead of getting involved in this culture war driven primarily by the political opportunism people on the Republican side.
We are the best country in the world for the future. Only we can stop ourselves from moving forward, which we seem to be doing quite well right now.
Listening to the, you’ll know, crazy stuff coming from election deniers, people who laugh at Paul Pelosi’s attacks, people who want you scared, who don’t have any answers, you know, I think it’s time for every American to say, you know what, there’s a lot at stake in pulling our country together.
There are some great opportunities now that the Congress has passed the CHIPS Act, which is infrastructure legislation. It deals with health care and drug pricing. This will help us compete in the clean-energy economy. Wow! We have so much good stuff. If we don’t, we’ll just confuse ourselves and listen more to people who don’t have our best interests at their heart. The best thing we can do for the world in this battle between democracy and autocracy, is to get our house in order. I hope we do that starting Tuesday.
