Hillary Clinton joins ‘The View,’ praises Biden’s ‘MAGA Republicans’ speech
The former Secretary of State said that the president’s words were an ‘important service; to the country.
Hillary Clinton on Wednesday praised President Biden’s recent speech in Philadelphia where he slammed "MAGA Republicans" as a "threat" to democracy.
During an appearance on ABC’s "The View," the former secretary of State was asked whether the president’s speech "met the right tone," or if it was divisive and could have been better executed.
"So this past week as President Biden gave a speech on democracy and the threats to it, as a Republican, I have been outspoken that I think it’s one of the biggest issues facing our country," co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin began.
"But I did worry that using the language saying many who support the former president are semi-fascist or leaning toward it was divisive. I know you experienced this when you used the term deplorable—quite a bit of backlash from the right. Do you think the president met the right tone or do you think this was divisive and could have been framed better?
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton leaving ABC studios after her appearance on "The View." (Elder Ordonez / SplashNews.com)
Clinton replied that she felt the president did a "very important service" to the country by giving the speech. She asserted that "too many people" are still not aware of how fragile American democracy truly is.
"I’m not going to second-guess the language he used because there has been so much that has gone beyond anything I would have ever dreamed of," she added.
Citing threats of violence from the right, and the January 6 riots, Clinton again reiterated that she felt Biden did a "real service" with his speech, calling it both "strong" and "necessary."
Alluding to Biden’s recent comments in which he called the MAGA Republican ideology "semi-fascism," the former secretary state went on to admit that "fascism" is a "very big word," but knocked Republicans for labeling Democrats that they disagree with as socialists.
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Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton leaving ABC studios after her appearance on "The View." (Elder Ordonez / SplashNews.com)
"I think we do need to be careful with our language, but I think the problem is if you go through the hallmarks of authoritarian regimes, you see too many characteristics, unfortunately, on our Republican side," she added.
Clinton concluded her response by expressing her hope that the Republican Party would begin to "vocally reject" the current Republican Party, which she described as "dangerous" and the "party of Trump."
Biden has received extensive pushback for his recent comments about Trump-supporting Republicans—comments which some compared to Clinton’s 2016 remarks about 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. Right?" Clinton said in the months leading up to the election. "The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up."
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President Biden delivers a speech at Independence National Historical Park, Sept. 1, 2022, in Philadelphia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Some critics credit her language as one of several reasons that Clinton ultimately lost against former President Donald Trump.
The former Secretary of State said on Tuesday that she will not be running for president again.
"Would you ever run for president again?" CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell asked.
"No, no," Clinton responded. "But I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that we have a president who respects our democracy and the rule of law and upholds our institutions."
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"What if Donald Trump runs again?" O'Donnell followed.
"He should be soundly defeated," Clinton said. "It should start in the Republican Party - grow a backbone! Stand up to this guy! And heaven forbid if he gets the nomination, he needs to be defeated roundly and sent back to Mar-a-Lago."
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.