Clinton on Trump’s dictator comment: ‘Take him at his word’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said voters should take former President Trump “for his word,” regarding his recent comments about being a dictator for a day if reelected in 2024.

Clinton was writing in response to Sen. Brian Schatz’s (D-Hawaii) post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, reading, “Trump is now repeatedly saying he’s going to be a dictator on day one and I don’t think we should keep asking what that means. That’s what he means.”

In a five-word response on X, Clinton wrote, “Take him at his word.”

Trump came under fire earlier this month after he told Fox News host Sean Hannity at an Iowa town hall he did not plan on being a dictator if reelected to the White House, “except for day one.”

“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said, no, no, no — other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator,” Trump continued.

Hannity had pressed the former president about whether he has plans, if reelected, to “abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people.”

In the wake of criticism from some Democrats and even some Republicans, Trump later doubled down on his remarks and emphasized he only wants to be a “dictator for one day,” to help secure the southern border and expand energy production the U.S.

Many Republicans appeared to mostly dismiss the comment, with one former White House official telling The Hill the furor set off by Trump’s remarks “plays into his hands.” The official argued the obsessive media coverage and Democrats’ anger reinforces Trump’s “us against them” narrative and fuels his influence in the Republican Party.

Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential election, has made a series of jabs at her former political rival in recent weeks. In a repost on Sunday of a Washington Post report about Trump recently quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin during a campaign rally, Clinton wrote, “Puppet.”

Trump has spurred fears that he will help Putin’s war on Ukraine with his promise to resolve the war within a day, without ruling out forcing Ukraine to cede some territory to Russia.

In another post on X last month, Clinton commented on a Rolling Stone report that detailed alleged private conversations in which Trump said he thinks he can run for president in 2024 as a “moderate” on the issue of abortion.

“He thinks women are going to fall for this?” Clinton wrote.