Hillary Clinton calls Trump a ‘fraud,’ but says election loss will determine if he’s a ‘fascist’

Hillary Clinton said President Trump is a fraud in every way, but that it’s too early to call him a fascist.

Appearing on the Dear Media podcast The Dissenters, the former Democratic candidate for the White House in 2016 blasted the Republican president as an “avatar” being used by the right-wing to pack the courts and win a culture war. According to Trump’s 2016 rival, “he doesn’t even know a single verse of the Bible,” but authoritarian-leaning conservatives don’t care because he’s politically useful.

Former US Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses a press conference for the film "Hillary" screened in the Berlinale Special category at the 70th Berlinale film festival on February 25, 2020 in Berlin.
Former US Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses a press conference for the film "Hillary" screened in the Berlinale Special category at the 70th Berlinale film festival on February 25, 2020 in Berlin.


Former US Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses a press conference for the film "Hillary" screened in the Berlinale Special category at the 70th Berlinale film festival on February 25, 2020 in Berlin. (DAVID GANNON/)

“He’s just a fraud,” Clinton said. "He’s a fraud in religion like he’s a fraud in business and politics. "

Clinton pointed to the 2018 book “Fascism: A Warning” — penned by President Bill Clinton’s former secretary of state Madeleine Albright — as “a great service” to Americans who think that the United States can’t see its democracy stripped away by a strongman.

"You look at, with (Benito) Mussolini, you look at (Adolf) Hitler, they used intimidation, but they also, you know, use political deal-making to obtain power in the first place, then had no intention of ever giving it up,” Clinton said.

Trump says he’s ‘not sure’ he can accept election results despite bipartisan pushback

Trump has expressed reluctance about accepting the results of the Nov. 3 election if he loses. He expressed the same sentiments during his race with Clinton, prompting her to call him a “sore loser.” Clinton wound-up winning the popular vote by nearly three million ballots, but the Electoral College gave the White House to Trump.

Clinton warns that seemingly petty things the president says, like lying about his crowd sizes should be taken seriously.

“That’s a clear signal,” she said. “He’s trying to distort and pervert reality to benefit himself. He’s trying to create an environment in which people end up believing the big lie.”

One “big lie,” according to Clinton, may include the president losing the election, then claiming it was rigged.

Podcast hosts Debra Messing and Mandana Dayani noted that in her book, Albright stopped short of calling Trump a fascist because he hasn’t used violence to maintain control of the government.

According to Clinton, whether or not Trump leaves if he loses next month’s election will determine just how much he has in common with those dictators. Until then, the Democratic trailblazer doesn’t think it’s constructive to use that label even though the president’s rhetoric walks that fine line in her opinion.

“I don’t know if we want to call him something yet, we want to educate the American people,” she said. “Sometimes labeling ends the conversation."

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