Jill Stein Accuses Hillary Clinton Of McCarthyism, Says ‘Russian Asset’ Claim Is ‘Unhinged Conspiracy Theory’
For weeks, rumors have been swirling that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is looking for an opening to enter the crowded Democratic primary field, but that is not the only reason her name is occupying the headlines of national media.
The former secretary of state recently made headlines when she suggested that Democrat and White House hopeful Tulsi Gabbard is being “groomed” by the Kremlin, a claim rejected by a slew of Democratic presidential candidates. She also called Green Party’s nominee for president of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 election, Jill Stein, a “Russian asset.”
Gabbard has made her opposition to Clinton known, and now Stein is doing the same.
In an op-ed penned for The Guardian, the activist accused Clinton of McCarthyism, describing her “Russian asset” claims as a “ludicrous, unhinged conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.”
According to Stein, the only reason Clinton is accusing others of working for Russia is because she is looking for an excuse to justify her 2016 loss to Donald Trump. While leveling such accusations, the Green Party politician asserted, the former secretary of is not only “poisoning” the public discourse, but pushing the U.S. toward McCarthyism.
“By continuing to blame everyone else for their loss, the Clinton camp is suppressing serious reflection on the problems with their own campaign,” Stein wrote, blasting Clinton for elevating Trump’s candidacy through media surrogates, and for having the DNC “sabotage” Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
According to Stein, Clinton lost because of her record, which includes “serving Wall Street, promoting corporate trade deals that hurt working people, and supporting endless war and regime change disasters,” and because of her refusal to accept popular progressive policies such as socialized healthcare, Green New Deal, and free public education.
HRC calling me a "Russian asset" – or Tulsi Gabbard, or anyone who dissents from DNC dogma – is an unhinged conspiracy theory divorced from reality. Instead of slandering people as traitors, we need #RankedChoiceVoting to open up our political system to real debate & real choice. pic.twitter.com/CVo728AevX
— Dr. Jill Stein? (@DrJillStein) October 21, 2019
Instead of engaging in introspection, according to Stein, Clinton and her allies are blaming their 2016 defeat on Russian election interference.
“This is classic McCarthyism, recalling a shameful period of paranoid hysteria and political repression,” she wrote.
The Green Party politician defended herself against accusations leveled by Clinton and others, arguing that her 2015 trip to Moscow — for which she has been widely-criticized — was part of an “international tour” to promote her platform, and pointing out that it had been publicly announced.
Stein also argued that Russian interference efforts pertaining to social media did not have a major impact on the 2016 election, pointing to investigative reports suggesting that it was actually online operations such as Cambridge Analytica’s that swayed the election in Trump’s favor.
Stein concluded the column expressing hope that Clinton’s attacks on her trigger a “much needed rethinking of the atmosphere of political repression that now threatens our democracy.”
