Democrats are fuming because Hillary Clinton made comments rehashing why she lost the 2016 election to President Trump.
Clinton’s former aides and surrogates bristled at Clinton’s remarks at a conference in India this week, where the former 2016 presidential candidate said states that supported her in 2016 are “more economically advanced” than those that went for Trump.
The former aides say that Clinton also added insult to injury when she suggested that women who voted for Trump were pressured “to vote the way that your husband, your boss, your son, whoever believes you should.”
“She put herself in a position where [Democrats] from states that Trump won will have to distance themselves from her even more,” said one former senior Clinton aide. “That’s a lot of states.”
Allies of the former presidential candidate have suggested she lay low and not make statements unless they are absolutely necessary.
“She’s annoying me. She’s annoying everyone, as far as I can tell,” said one 2016 Clinton surrogate. “Who lets her say these things?”
Her aides are suggesting these statements are only hurting the Democratic Party’s brand, especially as the party looks ahead to the 2020 presidential election.
“If these statements are a form of catharsis, it would be in the Democratic Party’s best interest for her to get these out of her system soon,” one former senior Obama White House aide said. “We need leaders like her to look forward to 2020 and how to unify the party, not continue to re-litigate the past.”
Clinton’s former aides have voiced their frustrations with her since she lost the 2016 election. The former presidential candidate has gone on the record blaming former FBI Director James Comey, the Russians, the press, her primary and general election opponents, and even sexism for her election loss.