Tipsheet

Hillary Clinton on Afghanistan Elections: ‘We Have Little Experience Ourselves with Not Perfect Elections’

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton compared the integrity of elections within the United States to the integrity of elections in Afghanistan.

During a panel at this year's Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards for Advancing Women in Peace and Security at Georgetown University, the former Secretary of State was asked how the United States can leave Afghanistan in a way that preserves women’s rights.

"First, there is an election in Afghanistan that starting today, and it is under tremendous threat from the Taliban, threatening people not to vote, trying to continue to delegitimize the government of the country," Clinton said. "I’m hoping that the election continues and concludes and the outcome will create support for the new government."

Clinton explained one of the reasons why it has been hard to leave Afghanistan is because the Taliban has refused to negotiate with the Afghanistan government in the past.

"Originally it was because the government had been installed by the international community, which was the only option since it was impossible to do otherwise at the time. But since then there have been elections, not perfect, but you know we have little experience ourselves with not perfect elections," she said.

Clinton was obviously referring to her loss against President Donald Trump in 2016. Since her loss, she has primarily blamed Russian interference as the reason, but she has also blamed voter suppression in states like Wisconsin as one of the reasons for her defeat. 

The Washington Post gave Clinton's claims of voter suppression in Wisconsin four Pinocchios for being "wrong on multiple levels" and for being "seriously misleading."

Other factors Clinton has blamed include FBI Director James Comey, former President Barack Obama, the media, Sen. Bernie Sanders, misogyny, resentment from white people, and sexism.