Writing an op-ed for the Atlantic, Hillary Clinton, said she believed that the American Electoral College system should be abolished to counter the ‘hate’ rhetoric of the U.S. President Donald Trump.
The United States Electoral College is a body of electors established by the United States Constitution, constituted every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president of the United States. The College consists of 538 electors, and an absolute majority of 270 electoral votes is required to win election.
Clinton won 2,864,974 more votes than Donald Trump, in the 2016 American Presidential election, but Trump won 30 states in the same election, securing 306 of the 538 Electoral College votes – 56.9 per cent of the total.
“You won’t be surprised to hear that I passionately believe it’s time to abolish the Electoral College,” Clinton wrote emphasizing that Trump was a racist who was destroying the American democracy.
“Trump has sunk far below the already-low bar he set for himself in his ugly campaign,” Hillary wrote, and pointing to his “shithole countries” comment, Hillary added that he was fanning hate speech.
During a discussion with lawmakers at the White House regarding immigrants in January, Trump reportedly exhibited frustration over the subject of protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries. At the time, he allegedly said, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” This alleged comment generated outrage across the US and wider world
She suggested that Trump did not care about the victims in Puerto Rico because they were Latinos, and dissed him for failing to condemn hate crimes against Muslims, while criticizing National Football League players.
“Hate speech isn’t ‘telling it like it is’. It’s just hate,” she said.
Although a Republican, Trump lacked “civic, republican virtue” and the idea of public service, she said. And added that Russian manipulations of American elections was still a threat.
Clinton said she hoped that more Democrats will be elected to the House in the mid-term elections to stop Trump’s agenda.
“Democracy may be our birthright as Americans, but it’s not something we can ever take for granted. Every generation has to fight for it, has to push us closer to that more perfect union. That time has come again.”
The Atlantic op-ed was adapted from the paperback edition of her book ‘What Happened’.