Hillary Clinton used a pair of appearances on Kara Swisher’s podcast this week to revisit her 2016 election loss to Donald Trump and to call for an end to the Electoral College, the constitutional system that has governed American presidential elections since the founding.
Clinton told Swisher that she believes she still occupies Trump’s thoughts a decade after the race, saying she got “more votes” in that election and that “he can’t live with that.” She went on to invoke the debunked claim that Russian interference decided the outcome, telling Swisher that “the Russians did help him” and that Trump “can’t believe that.” No evidence has ever shown that Russian activity changed vote totals in 2016.
In a separate segment with Swisher over the past week, Clinton turned her attention to the Electoral College itself. “I think if it ever had a usefulness, it has outlived it,” she said, arguing the system should be discarded.
The Electoral College was built into the Constitution by the Founders as a check against pure popular-vote rule, giving smaller and less populous states a voice in choosing the president rather than leaving the outcome to a handful of the largest metropolitan areas. Clinton’s comments add her to a long list of Democratic figures who have pushed to abolish or bypass it in the years since her loss.
Swisher also asked Clinton directly, “Has the pussy finally grabbed back?” — a reference to the 2005 recording of Trump’s private conversation with Billy Bush in which he described grabbing women without consent.
Trump remains president, with two years left in his term, regardless of the arguments Clinton continues to make about the system that put him there.
