Hillary Clinton Brought The Receipts About That Video Of Her Talking About Russia
Hillary Clinton: politician, mother, and queen of the receipts. On July 19, Donald Trump put Clinton on blast about Russia by sharing a 2010 interview clip on Twitter that showed her seemingly praising the idea of a "strong Russia." Well, the former New York senator and ex-Secretary of State decided to address Trump's shade head on, and Hillary Clinton's response to the video of her talking about Russia proves Trump might not have done his homework.
To start, let's rewind back to how this whole ordeal began. Earlier on July 19, Trump shared a 2010 video clip of Hillary Clinton in an interview with First Channel Television. In the 10-second clip, Clinton discussed the importance of a "strong Russia" in regards to the rest of the world. She said,
We want very much to have a strong Russia because a strong, confident, prosperous, stable Russia is, we think, in the interests of the world.
Needless to say, only so much context can be taken from a ten second video clip. So, in response to Trump's post, Clinton decided to share a tweet of her own. In her post, she revealed that her statement about a "strong Russia" was said when former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in office — not current president and Trump buddy Vladimir Putin. (Medvedev served as Russia's president from 2008-2012.) Then, she fought video with video when she shared a two-minute clip of her describing Putin's Russia, which definitely doesn't sound like her 2010 opinion. Different times, different Russia.
Clinton said,
I would argue that most important for voters to consider is the relationship between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ... Putin is a trained intelligence officer from the old KGB. He knows he can use flattery to Donald's head, to make Donald the Kremlin's puppet, and it seems to be working.
In addition to this digital clap back, there's some key context behind the 2010 interview that needs to be addressed. According to The Hill, Clinton was responding to a question about whether America's place in the modern world is a power "aimed at supporting the world’s equilibrium? Or is it a force aimed at changing the status quo?” In her response, Clinton claims that the United States supports stability, but that doesn't mean other nations shouldn't progress as well. That's where the concept of a "strong Russia" comes into play, but her full explanation says so much more than just that ten-second clip Trump shared.
She said,
It is a force to sustain an equilibrium that permits countries and individuals to progress, to become more self-realizing. I mean, we want very much to have a strong Russia because a strong, competent, prosperous, stable Russia is, we think, in the interests of the world. But at the same time, there are countries and places where the status quo is just not acceptable. Last summer, I went to the Democratic Republic of Congo. I went to Eastern Congo where 5.4 million people had been killed in the last 15 years, the greatest death toll since the Second World War. We don’t want that status quo to be sustained.
So yeah, Hillary Clinton's full statement is basically just an explanation that the United States is the guiding force into helping other nations progress. This isn't exactly the same claims Trump has been making throughout his presidency.
Donald Trump's decision to share the video of Hillary Clinton might be because the U.S. leader is currently facing backlash for his recent summit with Vladimir Putin. On July 16, Trump and Putin met in Helsinki, Finland for a historic summit just a few days after Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence agents for allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Despite the fact that U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that Russia did in fact meddle in the election, Trump apparently sided with Putin at the summit by suggesting he believes Putin's claims that there was no foul play on Russia's part.
"President Putin just said it's not Russia," Trump said at the summit. "I don't see any reason why it would be."
Trump may be under fire at the moment, but rest assured that Hillary Clinton won't let herself burn down with him.
