Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton called on all sides to stop using extreme rhetoric to describe their political opponents, using a television appearance to address the fallout from President Biden labeling the MAGA movement as “semi-fascism.”
“Fascism is a very big word,” Mrs. Clinton said during a Wednesday appearance on ABC’s “The View.” “But so is socialism, and the Republicans call every Democrat who wants people to have health care ‘socialist,’ so I think we do need to be careful with our language.”
Mrs. Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump after a campaign in which she caused a stir by calling Trump supporters “deplorables.”
Mr. Biden, meanwhile, kicked up dust when he coined a new label for MAGA Republicans in a speech to Maryland donors last month.
“It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism,” he said.
Mrs. Clinton declined to condemn Mr. Biden’s remarks directly, saying the speech was an important one and she doesn’t like what she’s seeing in some quarters of the GOP.
“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 said. “My most fervent hope is that Republicans themselves will begin to reject all of that.”
Mrs. Clinton is promoting a new show with her daughter, Chelsea, about female pioneers who’ve made a difference in society. The show is an Apple+ TV series called “Gutsy.”
The former first lady said she has no plans to run for president again but will remain involved in the conversation about America’s future.
“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,” she said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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