Hillary Clinton chokes up reading from her prepared 2016 victory speech

More than five years after election night 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is revisiting the victory speech she "hoped to" deliver.
Clinton read parts of her prepared 2016 victory speech in a MasterClass lesson revealed in a preview of this week's Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist. "I've never shared this with anybody," she says. "I've never read it out loud."
The speech opens, "My fellow Americans: Today, you sent a message to the whole world. Our values endure, our democracy stands strong, and our motto remains E pluribus unum: out of many, one."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
Clinton would have gone on to say that Americans during the 2016 campaign were "challenged to choose between two very different visions for America" and that voters in the end reached for "unity" and "decency." Clinton then would have celebrated the historic nature of the election of the first female president.
"In America, every boy and every girl can grow up to be whatever they dream, even president of the United States," she reads. "This is a victory for all Americans, men and women, boys and girls, because as our country has proven once again, when there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit."
At one point during the reading, Clinton choked up as she spoke about her late mother, wishing she could have told her about the election outcome. "I dream of going up to her and sitting down next to her, taking her in my arms, and saying, 'Look at me. Listen to me. You will survive,'" Clinton says. The speech would have concluded with Clinton telling Americans that "we will make America even greater than it has ever been."
Clinton said that by sharing the speech she never got to deliver, she was facing "one of my most public defeats head-on." The former Democratic candidate has previously said she didn't prepare a concession speech for election night "because I really thought I was going to win."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
October 8 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include evidence* of what causes autism, Donald Trump's enemy within and a CBS sacrifice
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’
The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US