Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton knows a thing or two about being the target of sexist smear campaigns by Donald Trump and his supporters.
On Friday, Clinton, who was targeted during the 2016 campaign by videos and online propaganda promoting conspiracy theories about her health, denounced Trump for tweeting a doctored video this week of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In the video, tweeted by Trump on Thursday, along with the all-caps comment, “PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE,” the audio of Pelosi speaking is clearly slowed down to make it appear that she repeatedly slurred her words. Pelosi doesn’t even drink alcohol.
Trump shared the video from Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs Tonight show. Before that, it already had been widely circulated on social media.
Speaking at a Democratic Party luncheon in Houston, Clinton said (emphasis mine), “Just look at what’s happened in the last 24 hours. The president and his cronies have been running around spreading a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi. Now, it is sexist trash. But it is also a sign that Trump is running scared.”
Clinton’s comments were part of a speech on the importance of enforcing laws in the U.S. and protecting the Constitution. “So, if you believe in the rule of law and the responsibility we all have to hold our leaders accountable, then we cannot relent on this front, either,” she added.
In an Op-Ed in The Washington Post in late April, following the release of the Mueller report, Clinton called for caution on the impeachment question, writing that “the nation’s interests will be best served by putting party and political considerations aside and being deliberate, fair and fearless.”
She noted that, “Congress should hold substantive hearings that build on the Mueller report and fill in its gaps, not jump straight to an up-or-down vote on impeachment.”
Regarding the sharing of the doctored video of Pelosi on its social media network, Facebook decided Friday not to take it down, as our sister site Gizmodo reported.
As Gizmodo noted:
First, the video will appear alongside a related article from a third-party fact-checking website (which, ostensibly, will point out that the video is indeed altered—though no such context appears directly on the video page itself.) And secondly, while the post will remain hosted and available, Facebook claims it will limit its reach on the platform, though by what amount or exact means remains unknown. In other words, it’s trying to find a middle ground on a politically potent piece of content.
The video already had over 2.5 million views as of Friday afternoon.
Pelosi’s daughter, Christine Pelosi, also defended her mom, noting on Twitter that the Speaker doesn’t drink alcohol. She also shared a comment on Facebook, which she reported, that said Nancy Pelosi “obviously suffers from involuntary tremors due to her alcoholism.”
“This is the cr*p I’m talking about,” Christine Pelosi tweeted. She added, “Obviously this doesn’t stop ME but others are affected by the ‘voter depression’ strategy that Trump allies are perpetuating.”
She tweeted later that, “Trump enablers have a deep aversion to the truth and disturbing need to doctor videos - especially of women.”