Clinton said during an appearance on MSNBC that Trump and his allies going after people they view as political enemies is “right out of the authoritarian playbook.”Show Caption
WASHINGTON − Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out against her 2016 opponent, calling President Donald Trump and his administration's efforts to punish their political adversaries "very dangerous."Clinton said in a Sept. 24 appearance on MSNBC that Trump and his allies using the power of the federal government to penalize political foes is "right out of the authoritarian playbook."The former first lady and senator from New York's remarks come after Trump asked Attorney General Pam Bondi in a Truth Social post to seek criminal charges against high-profile opponents, such as former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump administration officials have said they're planning to use "every resource" available across the federal government to target left-leaning organizations they contend are promoting political violence, including Charlie Kirk’s assassination. On Sept. 17, Walt Disney-owned ABC temporarily suspended "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after the late-night host's comments about Kirk's killing received backlash from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr. Kimmel returned to his talk show Sept. 23."Good lord, the things that have been said about me, the lies that have been propagated. If I had only known I could call up the FCC chair and say: ‘Take this person off the air. Get that person out of my sight. Off with his head,'" Clinton joked."You have to laugh about it, so you don't cry, because what is happening is so contrary to the founding principles and values this country was built on," she said. "Why is the First Amendment the First Amendment? You know, it's because the people who constructed the, you know, architecture of this incredible country of ours understood what it was like to live under absolute power, where you would be told what to say, what not to say. … We've got to stand against that."Clinton herself has been the target of Trump's calls for retribution. Trump's 2016 campaign against the then then-Democratic nominee for president included regular campaign rally chants to "lock her up."Common cause with Ted Cruz on Jimmy KimmelAfter Kimmel returned to air, he said that it was "never" his intention to "make light of the murder of a young man." He called Trump a bully and said he was not happy with ABC pulling him off the air.Kimmel thanked Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who said the FCC acted like "a mafioso" in suspending Kimmel's show. He also named Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens and Kentucky Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul as others who came to his defense."I appreciated Jimmy Kimmel calling out some of the Republicans, frankly, who stood up and said: ‘Wait a minute. This is not right. We can't go here.’ But they're not going to stop. They're going to try − because that's what authoritarians do. They want to silence people who are raising questions," Clinton said. Contributing: Phillip Bailey, Bryan Alexander, Pamela Avila and Anthony Robledo
