Twice-failed presidential candidate and former first lady Hillary Clinton weighed in on calls for more civility in politics in a recent interview with The Guardian released Friday. Clinton dismissed concerns that the left was becoming “uncivil,” asking “what is more uncivil and cruel than taking children away?”
“Democrats have been provoked to condemn the president with a passion some on the left warn is becoming ‘uncivil,’” the Guardian noted.
“Oh, give me a break,” she responded. “Give me a break! What is more uncivil and cruel than taking children away? It should be met with resolve and strength.”
“And if some of that comes across as a little uncivil, well, children’s lives are at stake; their futures are at stake,” she continued.
Calls for civility come among increased harassment of Trump officials by leftist protesters.
Recently, protestors disrupted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s dinner last week and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia on Friday because she worked for Trump.
Clinton then appeared to argue that profane remarks about the administration, which have become common from comedians like Samantha Bee, were understandable given their immigration policies.
“That is that ridiculous concept of bothsideism,” she said. “‘Well, you know, somebody made an insulting, profane remark about President Trump, and he separated 2,300 children from their families, that’s both sides, and we should stop being uncivil – oh and, by the way, he should stop separating children.’”
“Give me a break, really,” she emphasized. “I mean, this is a crisis of his making that will damage kids for no good reason at all, and I think everybody should be focused on that until the children are reunited.”
Speaking in reply to a question about UK prime minister Theresa May potentially cancelling Trump’s forthcoming visit over the policy, Clinton concluded that there should be “consequences” for the administration if they fail to reunite families at the border without elaborating on what she meant by that remark.
“This administration should be working 24/7 to reunite those kids,” she said. “And if they aren’t, yes, there should be consequences.”
Clinton remarked on President Trump’s executive order that it only came about because “even for him, the optics were terrible.”
She argues that the executive order on the policy hasn’t started to solve the problem.
“The question of how we reunite the children who were taken from the parents is the one that’s keeping me up at night,” she said.
Asked about whether her election loss still bothers her, Clinton said, “I’m OK. I’m fine.”
She said she would blame herself if she stopped weighing in on politics.
“I would blame me. Yes. I would,” she said. “It feels like a duty. It feels like patriotism, and it feels necessary. I’m not going anywhere.”