Hillary Clinton's talk about investigating Trump supporters dominates Fox panel days before midterm elections

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a podcast that President Donald Trump will soon have a Democratic Congress to investigate him, as well as his families, supporters and allies. The statement was discussed on the program "Gutfeld!", shown on Fox Business, just a few days before the mid-term elections in the United States.

According to the excerpt shown on the program, Hillary said that Trump "has held Republicans hostage for decades" and that this only works for a certain time. At some point, he said, the hostages will look around and realize there are more of them than of him. She concluded by urging the public to "fasten their seatbelts" and said the election is "just the beginning."

The presenter's reading

In the opinion of presenter Greg Gutfeld, the phrase is not limited to the president. He maintained that Hillary was talking about imprisoning not only Trump but also his voters, and that she "salivates" at the idea of ​​a one-party state that would use the government's power against adversaries. This is an interpretation by the presenter, not a literal statement by the former secretary.

Gutfeld also linked the speech to a second excerpt, from a voice that advocates prosecuting so-called emblematic cases and not just the president, so that young people avoid working in the Trump administration. The transcript does not identify who speaks in this excerpt. The presenter stated that this type of speech brings American democracy closer to a "banana republic".

The presenter also argued that years of rhetoric treating opponents as an existential threat to democracy lead part of the public to take the language literally. He cited as an example the reaction of a young woman at a campus event to a recent episode of political violence. The program treats the case as an illustration, without detailing facts beyond what was said on air.

The panel counterpoint

One of the panel's guests, whose name is not included in the transcript, said Democrats want voters to believe they are only fighting to save democracy. In his assessment, if they win the Chamber and the Senate, they will continue with the same type of political clash. He described himself as a cynic, said he liked Republican policies and stated that the country's main defense is informed voters, who understand who they vote for and how it affects their community.

What changes for the investor

The program is for commentary and humor, and does not include market figures, interest rates, exchange rates or public accounts. The content is political. For those who follow the stock exchange, the relevant point is indirect: the composition of Congress after the midterm elections influences the investigation agenda and the political environment in Washington, and the debate already appears at a high tone just a few days before the vote. The transcription does not allow estimating effects on assets or fiscal policy.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.