Hillary Clinton: We need to hold people accountable!

Hillary Clinton, former

senator and secretary of state, spoke Tuesday with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow about the rise of authoritarians around the world and corrupt elements in the United States that exploit the common peoples’ fear of change to manipulate their way into power.

“And, in fact, in the book we wrote, ‘State of Terror,’ as you know, there is a plot against the country by people who truly want to turn the clock back,” Clinton explained. “They believe that the progress we’ve made on all kinds of civil rights and human rights, the cultural changes that have taken place, are so deeply threatening that they want to stage a coup.”

“Now, think about it, because that’s truly what is behind Trump and his enablers and those who invaded and attacked our Capitol,” Clinton added.

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, Rachel, I — I am very worried, concerned. I spent a lot of time thinking about exactly what Anne Applebaum and you and others are worried about and trying to point out, because I do think that we are facing a crisis of democracy, a crisis of legitimacy, a crisis that really goes to the heart of what the future of our country and many others around the world will be.
So I spend my time trying to figure out what we can do about it, and I am not ever going to give up because there’s just too much at stake.

But first and foremost, we have to make sure more people besides people like you, me, Anne Applebaum and others who share our concerns, see what we see. Because I think that the role of disinformation, the way that propaganda has been really weaponized and the increasing ability to manipulate people through algorithms and other forms of artificial intelligence will only make this harder to combat.

So I don’t want to be pessimistic about it because I think this is a worthy and necessary battle.

I saw you talking to my two friends, Karen Dunn and Robbie Kaplan. You know, when they took on that case against the neo-Nazis and the white supremacists coming out of Charlottesville, you know, a lot of people were sort of scratching their heads. And I remember talking to both of them, particularly Karen, whom I’ve known and she’s worked for me and I admire her greatly, about why they were doing it.
And, you know, it was very simple. Somebody had to do it. We have got to end impunity. We have to hold people accountable for their actions, particularly when those actions threaten our way of life, our rule of law, our future as a democracy.

And so, I am determined to continue to speak out, to do whatever I can. And, in fact, in the book we wrote, “State of Terror,” as you know, there is a plot against the country by people who truly want to turn the clock back. They believe that the progress we’ve made on all kinds of civil rights and human rights, the cultural changes that have taken place, are so deeply threatening that they want to stage a coup.

Now, think about it, because that’s truly what is behind Trump and his enablers and those who invaded and attacked our Capitol. They don’t like the world we’re living in and they have that in common with, you know, autocratic leaders from Russia to Turkey to Hungary to Brazil and so many other places, who are driven by personal power and greed and corruption but who utilize fears about change to try to get people to hate one another and feel insecure and, therefore, be easily manipulated by demagogues and by disinformation.