Hillary Clinton criticizes Trump’s 2016 election loss ‘Abomination’ in Netflix documentary
Hillary Clinton is still very dissatisfied with the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election.
Despite winning the popular vote by nearly three million votes, the former secretary of state and first lady lost the electoral vote — and thus the presidency — largely thanks to the ex-reality star and real estate scion carrying three crucial, typically blue Rust Belt states (Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin) by a combined 80,000 votes. And now Clinton is expressing her displeasure with America’s Electoral College system in “The American Experiment,” a new Netflix docuseries debuting June 24.
“Well, personally, I think the Electoral College is a… horror,” says Hillary Clinton, adding, “For obvious reasons.”
Directed by Brian Knappenberger (“The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez”) and executive produced by Tom Hanks, “The American Experiment” is a five-part docuseries that examines the history and structure of America since its founding, and features interviews with dozens of politicians and historians, including Clinton, Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi. The project is released on the occasion of the 250e anniversary of America’s founding.
“I knew I would ask former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton about one of the most painful moments of her life,” says Knappenberger. Variety. “She has rarely spoken candidly about that election night and we are very happy that she spoke about it for the series. She has a unique perspective as one of only five people in American history to lose the presidency after winning the popular vote. The 2016 election is also notable because Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the popular vote by such a significant margin.”
According to indeed Pew Research poll63% of Americans would prefer to see the presidential election decided by the popular vote, rather than by the Electoral College – a group of presidential electors who vote for the president and vice president. The number of electors from each state is equal to the size of the congressional delegation, or the number of senators (2) plus the number of state representatives. Therefore, those in less populous states have a disproportionate say in presidential elections.
“The founders themselves were not in love with the Electoral College. It was flawed from the start,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) says in the docuseries. “We have a problem that a minority of the population, because of the structure of the Electoral College – in some cases over the objections of the majority – pronunciation the majority.”
“The American Experiment” now serves as a kind of counterpoint to President Trump’s Freedom 250 celebrations in his own honor, though Knappenberger says that was certainly not the intention. Above all, the docuseries serves as a historical lesson about the cracks in America’s founding and how robust and fragile American democracy really is.
“Some of Hamilton’s lyrics feel remarkably prescient. In the series we discuss his warning that a despot-like figure might one day arise in America who could ‘throw things into confusion so he can ride the storm and lead the whirlwind,'” Knappenberger explains. “The Founders did not fully anticipate it, but by the time George Washington left office, he drafted his eloquent Farewell Address, in which he warned that party divisions could tear the new nation apart. This was one of his greatest fears. Washington believed that the strength of the United States came from a union. Today we are more divided than at any time in our history since the Civil War.”
