Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week that supporters of former President Donald Trump should undergo a “formal deprogramming.” The unsuccessful 2016 Democratic nominee’s comments harken back to comments she made during that year’s campaign that called a number of Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables.”
Clinton made the comments during an interview with CNN, telling host Christiane Amanpour that while there have been “very strong partisans in both parties in the past,” there hadn’t been “this little tail of extremism.” She said that such actions were “wagging the dog of the Republican Party as it is today.”
The former First Lady said that many of the “MAGA extremists take their marching orders from Donald Trump, who has no credibility left by any measure.” She said that Trump was “only in it for himself.”
Furthermore, Clinton cited a number of civil and criminal cases against the former president. She asked, “when do they break with him?”
The former New York senator continued, saying that “at some point, you know, maybe there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members, but something needs to happen.”
Clinton predicted that Trump would be nominated by Republican voters next year, but that President Joe Biden would defeat him in the general election.
DESANTIS tears into Hillary Clinton for attacking Trump supporters as "cult members": "These are patriotic Americans."
Most Republicans "appreciate" what Trump did but "also understand that he's got limitations in terms of his electability. He would be a lame duck on day one if… pic.twitter.com/LMW9M0YL3F
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 6, 2023
She further called him an “authoritarian populist who really has a grip on the emotional, psychological needs and desires of a portion of the population.”
She further said that many Republican voters see Trump as “someone who speaks for them” and that many supporters are committed enough to him to attend his political rallies and wear Trump-themed clothing.
She said that “for whatever reason, he and his very negative, nasty form of politics resonates with them.”
The recent comment hearkens back to a 2016 comment the candidate made about some Trump supporters.
“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables,” she said at the time. “Right?”
