Hillary Clinton Addressed Critics Who Say She Should ‘Go Away’

Hillary Clinton speaking during the 2018 MAKERS Conference in Hollywood. Photo via Vivien Killilea/Getty Images.

Since the 2016 election, many among the political chattering class have suggested that Hillary Clinton should retire from politics or leave the public eye. And it isn’t just coming from Republicans. Many members of Clinton’s own party seem to fear she’s a lightning rod for conservative rage; every time she speaks up, it energizes the Republican base, it pulls attention away from Trump’s chaotic presidency.

At an event at Rutgers University in New Jersey on March 29, she addressed the people who have called for her to ride off into the sunset.

“I was really struck by how people said that to me — you know, mostly people in the press, for whatever reason — like oh, you know, ‘Go away, go away,’” she said. “And I had one of the young people who works for me go back and do a bit of research. They never said that to any man who was not elected. I was kind of struck by that.”

Clinton then gave a few examples of male politicians who have had tremendous success even after losing the presidency.

“I’m really glad that Al Gore didn’t stop talking about climate change,” Clinton said. “And I’m really glad that John Kerry went to the Senate and became an excellent secretary of state, and I’m really glad John McCain kept speaking out and standing up and saying what he had to say. And, for heaven’s sakes, Mitt Romney is running for the Senate.”

As for Clinton’s immediate future, The Washington Post reports that the former secretary of state plans to campaign for Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections, although she won’t be doing so on a national level.

She plans to help Democrats running in districts she won during her 2016 presidential bid.