Why Hillary Clinton Fears the GOP’s Next Moves
Editor’s Note: This article is part of our coverage of The Atlantic Festival. Learn more and watch festival sessions here.
Hillary Clinton can draw a straight line from her duels with conservative media and Republican politicians in the 1990s to the January 6 insurrection—and she fears worse is coming. “There’s always been a kind of paranoid streak in American politics,” the former secretary of state told Atlantic staff writer Jennifer Senior. “But it never was given such voice, such a platform, or had so much money behind it until we saw the rise of the right-wing radio voices like Rush Limbaugh and we saw the rise of Fox News. And then, of course, the internet just put it on steroids.”
She blames the tech giants for facilitating the rise of conspiracism and Republicans for exploiting fear and suspicion in a quest to permanently seize political power, whether as an obstructionist party in Congress or by undermining and overturning elections. Referencing moves by state legislatures to change election laws and congressional Republicans who objected to the election results earlier this year, Clinton said not enough Americans are taking the danger of a constitutional crisis seriously: “It’s like the frog dropped into the water. It’s boiling. People are still arguing about stuff that is important, but not as fundamental as whether or not our democracy will be broken and then taken over and minority rule will be what we live under.”
Clinton spoke with Senior during The Atlantic Festival today. Their conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Jennifer Senior: This year marks the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, which was a uniquely challenging time and tragic time for those of us who lived through it here in New York. It was the subject of my first cover story for The Atlantic, this month. I am now joined by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was at the time one of the United States senators from New York, so that we can talk about the grueling demands of that moment and also how our politics and foreign policy have evolved since. Welcome, Secretary Clinton, thank you for being here.
Hillary Clinton: Thank you so much, Jennifer. I’m delighted to talk with you. And congratulations on that wonderful cover story that you wrote.
Thank you. It’s top of mind for me, and it affected me personally—because I
