Hillary Clinton on why she's scared about Donald Trump becoming U.S. president again
Trump would 'further undermine the rule of law' if re-elected, says Clinton
Former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton says that restrictions on abortion in the U.S. would increase under a second Donald Trump presidency — and women seeking that health care may suffer or even die.
"We have states in our country that have essentially banned abortion, that will prosecute doctors, nurses, hospitals if they try to intervene to save a mother's life," said Clinton, the experienced diplomat who lost to Trump in her own bid for the presidency in 2016.
Clinton pointed to reports that at least two women in Georgia died after they couldn't access appropriate medical care — and said restrictions would increase in a second Trump term.
"This is in the real world right now in half the United States … it's so deeply distressing," she told The Current's Matt Galloway in a Canadian-exclusive interview.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, ending constitutional protections for abortion and leaving the question of access up to individual states. That decision also set abortion up to be a key issue in November's U.S. presidential election, where Republican nominee Trump faces off against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, the sitting U.S. vice-president.
Harris has been an outspoken critic of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, but her party and administration have faced sharp criticism — including from Clinton — for not doing more to enshrine abortion rights into law.
Trump has flip flopped in public statements on the issue, with analysts suggesting he's walking a line between alienating his conservative base and losing ground with average voters. At a rally this week in Indiana, Trump said women won't be "thinking about abortion" if he's elected, calling himself their "protector."
Clinton explores women's and reproductive rights in a new collection of essays, Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty, published this month. The former first lady also writes about how she has balanced her public and private life, as well as the crises facing western democracies.
She said that she's scared about what might happen if Trump wins a second term.
"He will be very likely to further undermine the rule of law and our Constitution and act with impunity for whatever he hopes to achieve, including limiting the press, [and] going after people he considers his political opponents," she said.
Clinton stands by 'deplorables' comment
Clinton lost to Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, after a contentious campaign that saw her describe half of Trump's supporters as a "basket of deplorables."
She told Galloway that she didn't intend the comment to describe everyone supporting Trump. Some voters feel unheard by their government, and they see Trump as "a disruptor" who can champion those legitimate concerns, she said.
"There are others who feel that their needs are being overlooked, that they are not getting ahead economically to the extent that they would prefer."
But she described Trump as a "con man who has little interest in doing anything real to help them," and said she doesn't take back the comment.
"It got at the truth that Trump is allied with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, with unrepentant racists, with misogynists," she said.
"Maybe it wasn't the best politics, but here's a guy … who assaults people verbally, who encourages his crowds to assault people, literally, physically. So my comment was actually pretty mild."
At the Democratic National Convention last month, Clinton said it had been the honour of her life to accept the party's nomination for the presidency in 2016 — and endorsed Harris as the candidate to win the presidency in 2024.
"Together, we've put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling. And tonight — tonight's so close to breaking through once and for all," she said at the convention.
"I wish my mother and Kamala's mother could see us. They would say, 'Keep going,' surely."
In her interview with CBC, Clinton said she'll do everything she can to help Harris get elected as the first female U.S. president, saying it would be "a great achievement" for the entire country.
"I think she's got the character and the values to be the kind of president that we need. And she says over and over again she wants to be a president for all the people," Clinton said.
"When she defeats Trump, maybe the fever will break. You know, maybe we can begin to find some common ground again."
Audio produced by Amanda Grant
