Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticized Democrats for being “complacent” about abortion prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned in an interview for an upcoming book.
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 after upholding a Mississippi law in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that banned most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. During the interview, Clinton assigned blame widely, but excluded herself from criticism, according to the New York Times.
“We didn’t take it seriously, and we didn’t understand the threat,” Clinton said during the interview. “Most Democrats, most Americans, did not realize we are in an existential struggle for the future of this country.”
Clinton lost the 2016 election to Republican nominee Donald Trump, who eventually nominated Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom voted with the majority in the Dobbs decision. Clinton accused Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, along with Chief Justice John Roberts, of lying during their Senate confirmation hearings.
“It is really hard to believe that people are going to lie to you under oath, that even so-called conservative justices would upend precedents to arrive at ridiculous decisions on gun rights and campaign finance and abortion,” she said. “It’s really hard to accept that.”
“They flat-out lied,” she added. “And Democrats did nothing in the Senate.”
Clinton also criticized Democrats for not doing more to counter the Federalist Society in the interview.
“I just think that most of us who support the rights of women and privacy and the right to make these difficult decisions yourself, you know, we just couldn’t believe what was happening. And as a result, they slowly, surely and very effectively got what they wanted,” she said. “Our side was complacent and kind of taking it for granted and thinking it would never go away.”
Clinton also claimed that American democracy was at risk should Trump win the 2024 election. Trump leads Biden by 1.1% in the RealClearPolitics average of general election polls for a head-to-head matchup as of Saturday, with the lead growing to 2.4% when Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included.
“This election is existential. I mean, if we don’t make the right decision in this election in our country, we may never have another actual election. I will put that out there because I believe it,” Clinton claimed. “And if we no longer have another actual election, we will be governed by a small minority of right-wing forces that are well organized and well funded and are getting exactly what they want in terms of turning the clock back on women.”
