Hillary Clinton told Joy Reid on her premiere episode of The ReidOut that Donald Trump has failed in most every aspect of the job and that his lack of experience and leadership has cost American lives and American standing overseas.
Following an interview with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Clinton noted that Biden would strongly resist Russia’s continuing interference in America’s sovereign elections, something Trump has failed to do, which has only encouraged more meddling.
“I’m glad Vice President Biden is campaigning or speaking out about what they know is going on and they’re hearing about in intelligence briefings,” Clinton said. “It’s very clear that Russia succeeded: they believed that, uh, they were able to influence the minds and even the votes of Americans, so why would they stop. They really want to pursue their agenda: dividing us, undermining trust within our country, electing—helping to elect someone who is favorable to their agenda.”
Clinton said that China is also unafraid to follow Russia’s lead, given that Trump has been impotent and unwilling to take a stand against Russian or Chinese aggression.
“And if you’re China, which is an easy jump to make, and you’re looking at the chaos the Trump Administration has created in the world while you’re trying to assert yourself or while you’re cracking down internally on dissent, on the Uyghurs, setting up a surveillance nation, trying to dominate the South China Sea, engaged with border skirmishes with India and all this other activity that we’re watching with some concern coming out of China—well, Donald Trump is your biggest ally,” Clinton stated.
Clinton went on to note the difference in experience between Trump and Biden: “You know, his being president, with his incoherent, inconsistent foreign policy has given you a tremendous opportunity. So I’m glad that Vice President Biden, with all of his experience in foreign affairs from the Senate, from being Vice President is trying to warn the American people that what happened in 2016 is sadly underway again.”
Reid interjected, “To say nothing of putting bounties on American troops.”
Clinton responded, amazed at Trump’s inaction: “It’s unbelievable, Joy. I mean, he’s still yet to say anything, as President of the United States, about bounties on American troops! It’s just unbelievable.”
Reid then asked the former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic Presidential Nominee how much work will be needed to reestablish the US alliances and reputation internationally.
“It can be repaired if we make a change in the White House starting next January. It won’t be easy because we’re going to have to rebuild our alliances with our friends around the world who have, as you just pointed out, been looking at us with confusion, with pity, with deep concern about what this mean to the future of democracy and our relationships,” Clinton explained.
“We’re going to have to be very clear with adversaries like Russia, Iran, China, North Korea that we are back in the business of diplomacy, tough-minded diplomacy, to try to deal with the vacuums that have been created by this administration,” Clinton continued. “It will take a lot of time and effort and intensive work, Joy, but it can be done. I dare not think about what we’ll be left with if, for some reason, Trump were to be reelected because that, I think, the damage to our institutions, to the rule of law, to America’s unity and to our role in the world would be much, much harder to repair.”
After showing a clip of Trump saying that he may not accept the outcome of the election, Reid asked if people should be concerned that Trump will not vacate the White House if he loses the November vote.
“Well, he seemed to signal that with his Chris Wallace interview, didn’t he, when he said he would have to wait?” Clinton noted. “We have to be concerned, and I think it’s something that not just the Biden campaign, but anyone in any position of responsibility on both sides of the political divide have to begin preparing for.
“And here’s what I think that means: we need to shore up our electoral security. We need to make it possible for people to vote by mail. I’m involved in helping to support lawsuits against states that are trying to minimize or make that difficult because that’s what the Trump Administration wants.”
Clinton noted her support for Biden’s plan to recruit poll workers and said she’s supporting lawsuits to make vote-by-mail programs widely available.
When Reid asked about Trump’s claim that he “aced” a standard cognitive test to determine mental impairment and if people should be concerned about Trump’s mental fitness, Clinton reflected on Trump’s lack of leadership during the pandemic.
“Well, I think anybody who has watched him over the last four years has to be concerned and in particularly watched his total absence of leadership with respect to the pandemic,” Clinton observed. “If you were really looking for someone to try to help our country this terrible virus that has cost jobs and lives and disrupted our society and economy. Clearly, he has failed. He’s failed at the most fundamental job of being a president.”
“And so yes, I am concerned. I’m concerned because he doesn’t seem up to the job. He doesn’t seem capable of having the attention, the concentration, the focus, the discipline to stay with a problem like the pandemic poses. He seems to be, unfortunately, impulsive in what he says and what he does, which confuses a lot of people: governors, mayors others who are trying to figure out what to do to save lives and save jobs. So I think every American who has seen him over the last four years, but particularly over the last six months with respect to the pandemic should be concerned about him.”
Clinton noted that the Roger Stone grant of clemency seems to be the result of blackmail “out in the open” because Stone had repeatedly said he didn’t “rat” on Trump even though he was pressured. She noted that was just another act in what appears to be an ongoing cover-up of illegal activity by the Trump campaign in 2016.