Speaking on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Monday night, Chelsea Clinton accused the Trump administration of “new levels of cruelty” while mentioning the administration’s approach to wildlife and also managing to segue to the situation at the southern border. Clinton also took a shot at the administration for being “chaotic” before she and Meyers took shots at Fox News, claiming the network was obsessed with the Clinton family.
The segment of the discussion went like this:
Meyers: I think there are a litany of things that are getting lost in the shuffle as far as what’s going on in the current administration. Conservation is obviously a huge one of those. Are you — Obviously you are doing you’re best; but do you feel that this is an issue that not only do not people realize how serious it is but also based on the noise is impossible to focus on?
Clinton: I think a lot of people don’t know how much the Trump Administration has done to roll back protections for endangered species, so they’ve weakened the Endangered Species act; it’s now legal to bring elephant and lion carcasses and trophies into the country; they’re planning on opening the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge to oil drilling that would be devastating for polar bears; they tried to relegalize grizzly bear hunting in Yellowstone National Park; it hadn’t been done in more than forty years. So they’re really, y’know, pushing back on endangered species wherever they can.
Meyers: And how do you then try to explain to people how serious it is when it strikes me that — you’ve lived in the White House; this one seems pretty chaotic.
Clinton: Yeah, ya think? Yeah.
Meyers: I mean, I would imagine because of your experience, you would say that certain people who have an expectation of what happens during a presidency, like, trust me it’s a lot harder than you think it is. There’s a lot more going on. Are you constantly taken aback, however, by exactly how chaotic this one seems?
Clinton: Yes.
Meyers: Okay.
Clinton: And by the new levels of cruelty —
Meyers: Yeah.
Clinton: — that this administration seems to find, whether it’s with the children being separated from their families at the border, or it’s with the endangered species act, which had never really been controversial before.
Meyers said of Trump, “He believes that if you’re endangered you did something wrong.” Clinton responded, “Well, and his sons like to hunt.”
Clinton and Meyers then attacked Fox News, claiming the network was obsessed with Hillary Clinton, prompting Clinton to comment that her family was “living rent free in their heads.” She added, “But I do sometimes wonder if my mother weren’t here — and I hope she’s here for many, many, many decades to come, like what would they talk about?”
In October, Clinton admitted that she might run for office, saying, “I think if someone were to step down or retire and I thought I could do a good job and it matched my talents, I’d have to think if it’s the right choice for me … I don’t have any plans to run for office, but it is something I think about as I hope every young person thinks about it. If you care about what’s happening in the world, you have to care about running for and holding elected office. I hope it’s a question that we ask ourselves.”
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