Former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton put on a remarkable display over the weekend of being disconnected from political reality during an interview before a large audience in India.
Clinton told the India Today Conclave 2018 that the U.S. didn’t deserve President Donald Trump’s upset victory in the 2016 presidential race and that his election was mainly supported by “backwards” Americans.
“I won the places that represent two-thirds of America’s gross domestic product,” Clinton said. “So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward. And his whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backwards.
“You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs, you don’t want to, you know, see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are, whatever your problem is, I’m going to solve it.”
The unreality of Clinton’s comments was put on vivid display Tuesday morning when Trump nominated Gina Haspel as the first female director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), succeeding Mike Pompeo, whom the president designated to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Almost as important as Haspel’s significance as the first woman named to run the U.S. spy agency is that she came up through the ranks as a career civil servant and is not a political appointee. She is presently deputy director of the agency. Presidents traditionally install political supporters in the director’s job.
Clinton’s accusation that Trump represents voters who oppose “black people getting rights” also provides a marked contrast with the unemployment rate for African-Americans, which, at 6.8 percent in December, was the lowest it has ever been since the U.S. Census Bureau began measuring it.
Related: Haley Warns U.S. May Unleash Massive New Airstrikes in Syria
The figure in February rose slightly to 6.9 percent, but it has been on a steadily descending path since the spring of 2011 under former President Barack Obama.
Even so, the fact is the present record low occurred under Trump, and he rarely misses an opportunity to tout it, saying as he did in January, “Something I’m very proud of: African American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded. And Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.”
Other women fill prominent positions in the Trump administration, most notably former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who regularly makes headlines as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Earlier this week, she warned Syria that massive new U.S. airstrikes may be coming as a result of the brutality of the Syrian government’s campaign against rebels in the Ghouta region of that country.
Clinton’s comments in India recall a controversy during her 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign against then-Sen. Barack Obama, who said of rural voters, “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
Senior editor Mark Tapscott can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.
Join the Discussion
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.