Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton blames the media for creating a “attitude of divisiveness and separation” in the nation, and worries that “it is undermining our democracy.”
“I think the media environment where people are rewarded for being outrageous, for yelling at each other, for saying things that are untrue without being held accountable for it has contributed to this attitude of divisiveness and separation,” said Clinton to Vox Media.
Recommended Stories
In an interview with Vox Editor-in-Chief and co-founder Ezra Klein distributed Monday, she added, “If people are being addressed in their fear — as opposed to their openness, their tolerance, their hopefulness — it just creates an even more hardened view about whether we can work with each other or not. And I worry about that; I worry it is undermining our democracy.”
In the 40-minute interview, Clinton said that social media can be especially nasty.
“The media environment — particularly the social media environment — drives negativity. It’s what captures eyeballs. It’s what gets people to tune in or log on. It is just human nature,” she told Klein. “Saying something negative about somebody, whether it was a negative ad 30 years ago or a negative tweet or other allegations today — there’s just a really rich environment for that to capture people’s minds and change their attitudes.”
She talked about her years in the public eye, and the regular attacks she has faced from her critics. She suggested that the attacks are worse when she is campaigning for a job than when she has one.
“It’s always amusing to me that when I have a job, I have really high approval ratings; when I’m actually doing the work, I get reelected with 67 percent of the vote running for reelection in the Senate. When I’m secretary of state, I have [a] 66 percent approval rating.
“And then I seek a job, I run for a job, and all of the discredited negativity comes out again, and all of these arguments and attacks start up. So it seems to be part of the political climate now that is just going to have to be dealt with,” she said.
It was during a discussion of her current reading list that she addressed the media and the country’s division.
“We need to be reminded of what is unique about the American experience. De Tocqueville saw it. Habits of the Heart came from his writings, and you can see how more difficult it is in a 24/7, 360-degree media environment to find the time to think, to breathe, to spend relaxation hours getting to know people.
“We just don’t do that. We don’t build relationships; we don’t, on the Republican-Democratic divide in Washington, spend any time with each other — even less than what I did when I was there, and that wasn’t that long ago,” said Clinton of her years as a senator from New York.
“A democracy relies on the glue of trust. You don’t have to agree with me. But I do have to believe, whether it’s an economic transaction or my vote, that there’s a certain expectation. That, yeah, there are people who go off the rails — everybody’s not what they pretend to be, we all know that. But in general, there’s got to be that rock-solid belief that this transaction between us as voters and citizens rests on something deep and sacred. And I don’t know how we get back to that,” said Clinton.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
