Clinton says GOP is trying to 'keep voters scared' with focus on crime

Former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton believes the Republican focus on crime in the upcoming midterms is intended to "keep voters scared," she told CNN Thursday.

Speaking to anchor Don Lemon, Clinton said the GOP is not "concerned about voter safety," and just wants to "gin up all kinds of fear and anxiety in people."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Clinton also denounced the Republican response to the assault on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) husband, Paul, who suffered a fracture to his skull and injuries to his hands after an intruder broke into the couple's California home and attacked him. Clinton said she found it "ironic" and "frankly disturbing" that some Republicans so focused on crime haven't vehemently denounced the incident. It's "sadly a real indicator of where we are in our country right now," she continued, in particular taking issue with Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) and what appeared to be a recent joke she made at Paul Pelosi's expense. (Lake denies making light of the attack and said her comments were taken out of context.)

As for Democrats' midterms chances, Clinton sounded confident the party could prevail so long as voters show up. "A midterm election is always difficult for the party in power," she said. "So our job is to convince our voters to turn out because if they turnout, then there is no doubt we will win."

Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.