Why are people still losing their minds over Hillary?

History has forgiven other presidential losers. Why is it being so hard on her?

Hillary Clinton.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Hillary Clinton is back. And surprise, surprise: Many Americans, both liberal and conservative, still despise her.

Liberals carped at her for taking some time to herself and skipping the Women's March (see, she never cared what happened to us!), and now they loathe her for coming back (you're standing in the way of progress!). Conservatives, meanwhile, continue to hammer her for making "excuses" about her election loss, retrench old tales of her husband's indiscretions, and peddle an array of escalating conspiracy theories about her health. News of her starting a political organization, giving some interviews, and delivering a commencement speech has been met with shock, revulsion, and outright horror, and not just by the press, but also by people who ostensibly supported her. This is far worse than any vitriol directed at the last four men who preceded her as presidential bridesmaids. Why is everyone still so angry at her?

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
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.