Media, Politics

Deprogramming “Deplorables”: Clinton Raises Need for “Formal Deprogramming” of Trump Supporters

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has caused another stir by suggesting that the millions of Trump supporters may require a “formal deprogramming” in a CNN interview. It was a moment clearly enjoyed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who previously suggested that the FBI should have stopped Trump from making certain campaign statements.  Even former FBI Director James Comey balked at Amanpour’s suggested censorship. Now, Amanpour has clearly found a kindred spirit.

My concern over the comment is less whether Hillary Clinton is serious. (I really do not know). I am more concerned by the continued reckless rhetoric from national leaders. I previously objected to other comments by Trump. Yet, the media rarely applies the same level of scrutiny to such comments or personal attacks from figures on the left.

Discussing the recent vacating of the position of the Speaker by all of the Democrats and eight Republicans, Clinton said that Democrats had to groom selected Republicans while treating the rest as sick cultists:

“[S]adly, so many of those extremists, those MAGA extremists take their marching orders from Donald Trump, who has no credibility left by any measure. He’s only in it for himself. He’s now defending himself in civil actions and criminal actions. And when do they break with him? Because at some point, you know, maybe there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members, but something needs to happen.”

It appears that the “basket of deplorables” are now a cabal of cultists due to “emotional, psychological needs and desires.”

Amanpour was clearly bemused by the suggestion, but the combination of the two is chilling for those of us concerned about free speech in this age of rage. Many countries have historically treated dissenters as mentally ill or requiring reeducation.

The media has long embraced the need to educate the public to accept its views. Former President Barack Obama joined a number of journalists in discussing how to reeducate the public. Obama denounced “anger-based journalism” while promoting an advocacy-journalism model in which the media shape the news for citizens who supposedly need help to properly frame ideas.

The fact that Amanpour elicited these comments only magnified the unease over the underlying intolerance for opposing viewpoints. In an interview with James Comey, Amanpour pressed Comey on why the FBI did not “shut down” President Donald Trump’s “hate speech” during the 2016 presidential election.

Comey correctly pushed back on Amanpour by noting that she was suggesting something grossly improper and unconstitutional: “That’s not a role for government to play. The beauty of this country is people can say what they want even if it’s misleading and it’s demagoguery.”

Neither CNN nor Amanpour ever addressed a CNN host suggesting the use of the FBI to shutdown political debate.

Now, however, Amanpour has found a leader who is willing to treat political opponents as sick cultists. The sense of smug superiority is precisely why Hillary remains one of the least popular political figures in America. What is ironic is to watch Amanpour and Clinton denounce the right for reckless rhetoric and anti-democratic sentiments as they voice intolerant and inflammatory views.

312 thoughts on “Deprogramming “Deplorables”: Clinton Raises Need for “Formal Deprogramming” of Trump Supporters”

  1. The MSM needs to stop both-sidesing everything it reports on. The focus should be on truthful reporting. Sometimes there are truths on both sides, but sometimes only one side is truthful.

    1. America is and must be a dictatorship of the clear meaning and intent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

      It is not.

      Irrefutably, the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs, AINOs) in America have nullified the Constitution and Bill of Rights and forcibly imposed the principles of communism—central planning, control of the means of production (unconstitutional regulation), redistribution of wealth, social engineering—and Karl Marx’s motto: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

      This situation must be corrected and America must be returned to its position under the dominion of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

    2. Who are these “thought leaders”? Never heard of anyone fitting your description.

      1. He names some of them in his op-ed. (You do understand quotation marks and links, right?)

        1. The article is protected by a pay wall. If you believe there are such “thought leaders”, you should be able to name them. Let’s expose them to criticism.

  3. I do recall the last time mass re-education was used. It wasn’t pretty. How many millions died in Mao’s Cultural Revolution is still not certain.

  4. Maybe Trump supporters should be put in concentration camps; but all for the good of society, right? Part of the destroying democracy to save it.

    antonio

  5. She’s just upset her Super Predator voters are waking to her corruption.

  6. Another data point that the American parties are not the same: Menendez, a Democratic Senator, gets accused of serious corruption and is polling at 5% now. Trump is facing 91 felony indictments and has been found liable for sexual abuse and is likely to be the Republican presidential nominee.

    1. Trump made his money BEFORE entering politics and has lost money while in politics. Menendez made his money by cashing in on his office.
      Trump innocent, Menendez guilty — Trump excellent president who presided over NO NEW WARS and a great economy until COVID, Menendez just another low-rent political crook from New Jersey.

      1. “Trump made his money BEFORE entering politics and has lost money while in politics.”

        How would you know how to accurately assess his net worth accurately, given that he regularly inflates or deflates his worth depending on which serves him better at the moment (see: his fraud trial in NY, for example, how he values MAL for tax purposes vs. what he claims it’s worth), and given that the news organizations that estimate his net worth give such varied values.

        “Trump innocent, Menendez guilty”

        You are biased. Neither has been found guilty. Neither has been acquitted.

        But that’s the point: Democrats take the evidence against Mendendez seriously, and Republicans don’t take the evidence against Trump seriously.

        2. (1) I’m NOT a republican. I’m a fully-functional, lifelong, pragmatic Independent. And you bipolar MORONS who think there are only 2 kinds of people in the US are the PROBLEM, not the solution.

          (2) I’ve not seen any evidence against Trump to take seriously. I’m familiar with what Fake President Joetard’s corrupt prosecutor has put in his indictments, and for a variety of reasons including comprehension of the LAW I learned NOT in school or reading political articles but by spending 12 years of my own time and money IN Ohio COURTS — municipal, common pleas, appeals, and (for purposes of filing Affidavits of Disqualification) supreme — I find the accusations against Trump unpersuasive.

          You can find SOME of the various reasons that the indictments against Trump are unpersuasive in Trump’s recent Motion for Dismissal, filed yesterdzy —
          https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656604/74/united-states-v-trump/

          — and in a condensed analysis of said Motion published by The Federalist, published today:
          https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/06/why-trumps-presidential-immunity-defense-may-just-lead-to-an-election-indictment-dismissal/

          1. I find Trump’s motion for dismissal unpersuasive. Time will tell which of us the courts agree with.

              1. Thanks, but I was already aware that Cannon temporarily stayed the CIPA section 4 hearing until she considers Kise’s motion filed for delay until after the 2024 election (posted hours ago on the Emptywheel site you dissed), and I don’t turn to the Gateway Pundit for case updates, so I don’t know whether the second one pointed out that Trump had asked Judge Moulton to pause the civil fraud trial, but Moulton declined. Not really a “smack-down.”

                1. I don’t use the Gateway Pundit, which long ago banned me from commenting there, as a source of verified information. I only use it as a source to alert me that information is out there to be searched for and confirmed by some less-ridiculous website or source.

            2. LOL – We will find out if TDS reigns in all or not.
              It’s OBVIOUSLY correct.

    3. Menendez has already been re-elected despite serious criminal allegations, and evidence, against him. Ted Kennedy was re-elected repeatedly despite his shameful conduct in causing the death of a young woman. Bill Clinon was nominated twice by Democrats despite a long history of sexual abuse and flagrant dishonesty. Hillary – oh, why bother?

  7. “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

    – Declaration of Independence, 1776

  9. In the spirit of the “Hi, Bob” drinking game, I propose everyone take a drink every time a Lefty spews their word-of-the-day, ‘extrajudicial’, on this blog.

      1. I’ve seen videos of Trump getting booed at his rallies for recommending that people get vaccinated for COVID. There are varioius definitions of the word “cult,” but NONE of them include booing the supposed leader or object of cult worship.
        The leftist habit of applying any negative word they can think of to their opposition is tedious, to say the least.

          1. I think they were booing Trump for recommending the vaccine, but tomato/tomato. The point is that Trump recommended the vaccine, and the response was a round of booing.

      2. It’s only dangerous if it needs to be. If you are a marxist/collectivist/globalist/POS, it is dangerous.

        If you are a corrupt government POS or a sponge making money off of it, it is very dangerous.

        If you are hillary, it is extremely dangerous.

    2. Thank you. Glad I’m not the only one who noticed. One of the Squealers that said it, claimed he doesn’t read Vox. I smell buuuulllllcrap!

  10. Hills knows that Joe will step down and the DNC will install the nominee
    and she is not in the mix

    1. She came out of her cave recently. Maybe Hill thinks she has a shot at being the candidate. She sure is acting like it.

      1. I’ve noticed that, too. And with all the coverage for no particular reason, the garbage media seems like it’s floating the idea of Hillary being a candidate — probably for VP so she can move into the White House after pushing Joetard down the stairs of Air Force One.

  11. Hillary’s back must constantly be in pain from the gunny sack full of chips she carries around on her shoulders. She full of vile utterances and fiery hate spewing from her nostrils. She cannot accept defeat, what a sorry looser, and to think she came within a whisker of becoming the President. I beg you Madam, please just go away and sew some sock puppets for your fantastical dream play of being a world leader!

  12. When Hillary Clinton passes on, I predict the stench of Urine will greet visitors to her grave site.

  13. Jonathan: Hillary Clinton may be on to something. “Formal deprogramming” of DJT cult followers. What an idea! But I doubt Clinton is really serious. But she is pointing out the obvious. The cult followers of DJT have been subject to years of programming–constant lies by DJT about the “stolen” election, his lies about being “persecuted’ by “deranged” judges and prosecutors he calls “Marxists and Communists”. Like Goebbels, DJT believes repeating these lies to the gullible will get them to believe them. And it has worked. When DJT threatens judges and prosecutors they get death threats from members of the cult. It’s almost a reflex action.

    But I am not entirely pessimistic. Some of DJT’s inner circle have gone through a virtual detox program. Former members of his administration have joined the real world. Take Bill Barr, your close friend. He has seen the light and now is one of DJT’s most vocal critics. Others have also broken away. Cassidy Hutchinson testified against Mark Meadows and DJT in her testimony before the Jan. 6 House Committee. In the Mar-a-Lago docs case one defendant has also broken away and will testifying against his former boss. In Fani Willis’s case one of DJT’s loyal followers has agreed to a plea deal. Others will no doubt follow. So all hope is not lost that other of DJT’s loyal cult will agree to deprogramming. It’s just a matter of time.

    But as to the true believers, they will probably never see the light. They are the followers of media sources which essentially are disinformation channels. They are the trusting victims of deception, disinformation and apocalyptic appeals. They are like the followers of Sun Myung Moon, Jim Jones and David Karesh. They would rather take a cyanide pill. If DJT is convicted of serious crimes and goes to prison they will stand outside the prison wall and shout: “Free our leader!”. Hope for deprogramming of these people is out of the question.

    1. Your entire post is but a variation of Hillary Clinton’s deranged comments. Completely unoriginal in content.

    2. You and Hillree make quite the pair of pathetic, self-deluded, extremists who live lives of bitter worthlessness !!!

    4. Dennis You self righteous hypocrites Dem Socialist Dratsabs believe yourself to be so superior . But in reality you and Hill and most of the other Superiotites are just something I use the metal shoe cleaner on the bottom step to clean the sole of my shoes. Let me apprise you. Joe Biden will resign soon and it matters not whom the demented one is replace with, DT will be elected in 2024. Alan Dershowitz has posted some great summaries on the Judges, and DAs actions and some would classify those entities to be corrupt. He said there will be convictions but there will be reversals of those. Your views and logic are like a cyclopes with a bad case of cataracts, mostly due to that anal/cranial inversion you suffer with. Pull your head out man.

    5. There are libraries all across the country, from coast to coast, filled with the writings and ideas of people who are actually WORTH plagiarizing, and you couldn’t find anyone more worthy than Hillary?
      That’s just sad.

        1. Thanks. I wonder how many reading my comment about FOOLISH plagiarism are aware of the cleverness with which you plagiarized Shakespeare’s “right on” in your reply:

          “I am no orator, as Brutus is,
          But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man
          That love my friend; and that they know full well
          That gave me public leave to speak of him.
          For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
          Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech
          To stir men’s blood; I only speak right on.”
          _____________________________________________ Mark Antony (Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2)

    6. Well denny ole boy, I hope you are making some coin or repaying part of an ill-gotten pension with your pathetic screed. The ‘intelligence’ agencies and isreali propaganda arms you seem indebted to must be impressed.

  14. “But but but Trump quoted Hitler”, as Hillary quotes Stalin.

    I can’t remember, who killed more non combatants???

      1. Hillary was just dumb enough to say the quiet part out loud. And look up, so is Dennis.

        It ain’t just her, but thanks for playing.

        1. If you’re thankful that Trump is running again, you’re part of the problem.

  15. “Special counsel Jack Smith investigated whether former President Donald Trump shared sensitive information about the US nuclear submarine program with an Australian billionaire – who then repeated the information to dozens of others. … The submarine community – dubbed the Navy’s “silent service” – relies on secrecy to ensure not only the safety of sailors on board, but also national security.”
    https://nypost.com/2023/10/05/trump-discussed-capabilities-of-us-nuclear-submarines-with-australian-billionaire-report/

    This is who Trump stans are defending: a man who endangers national security.

    1. LOL — define “sensitive information.” Hillary’s weight and IQ are “sensitive information.” How many times Bill Clinton has been treated for the clap is “sensitive information.”
      And there are sometime very good reasons for sharing “sensitive information.” The CIA does it all the time, because nobody knows whether it’s TRUE or not.

      1. Too lazy to read the article, huh?

        “Pratt … reportedly told federal prosecutors that Trump discreetly disclosed to him the precise number of nuclear warheads US submarines carry and how close they can get to a Russian submarine without being detected.” That sensitive info.

        1. LMAO…Its twenty four trident II missiles, each having 10 Mirv’s, with an average yield of 50 megatons each. The number carried will be reduced to twenty this year, in accordance with START. We have 14 Trident II capable subs, and 18 Ohio class altogether.

          And there is no precise distance, get a clue. The range of our passive sonars and theirs varies with MANY factors, including gradients, water depth, biologics, running equipment, even the effectiveness of the operators. People these days will lap up dog chow like its caviar.

          Why don’t you go find out who gave our enemies the real secrets regarding our towed array sonars, which was the HUGE advantage that helped us win the Cold War, and let us know what his politics were. I bet you can guess.

          Call the FBI, I just spilled the beans!!!!

        2. I absolutely do NOT read the NY Garbage Post, and laziness has nothing to do with it. Meanwhile my point still stands. Others have no way of knowing whether Trump was leaking accurate information or disinformation. Gossiping with someone is not the same as leaking military information that others can rely upon. And meanwhile, a president IS the ultimate declassification authority under our laws.

          1. Don’t waste your time Ralph. It’s just another click bait sewing circle gossip piece, of the type where Dennis gets most of his info.—-former Navy Submariner

            It’s written to “inform” the lazy people like our friend who projected that on you, rather than doing the research himself.

            For all he knows, the numbers I gave are inaccurate. Fools.

            1. In other words, at any given time, very few people know the number of actual warheads avaiilable, and Trump aint one of them. Does someone think the President picks the target packages of our missiles?? Like we’d leave it to the elected dum dum in the oval office, bwahahahaha. Dummies. He gets to “push the button”, thats all LMAO.

              Seriously, you don’t just throw 20 missiles into every sub and ride ’em around in the ocean for 20 years. Jeezus, I can’t believe I’m having to say this. These things are a highly sophisticated combination of radioactive materials, explosives, propulsion fuels, mechanics, and electronics. They require regular maintenance and sometimes repair. They are constantly being rotated in and out and thru maintenance facilities. They are swapped out for dummy missiles, and so on and so on. Trump could no more accurately tell someone how many “warheads” we have on any given day than I could. It’s all made up BS to fool the low info masses. And look, it works.

  16. MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!!!

    GOVERNMENTAL NURTURING – WOMB TO THE TOMB – OH, HILLARY, WE’RE SAVED!!!

    HILLARY DEMANDS THE END OF FREEDOM AND THE ENSLAVEMENT OF THE MASSESS!!!

    Hillary Clinton calls for the full abrogation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the forcible imposition of the “dictatorship of the hired help.”

    Hillary Clinton calls for the end of freedom and the enslavement of the people under the Communist Manifesto.

    Hillary Clinton calls for the mass brainwashing of the people—public school “education” and re-education in communism.

    Hillary Clinton and the Communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs, AINOs) are direct and mortal enemies of the American thesis of freedom and self-reliance, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, actual Americans, and America.

    Military officers, Supreme Court Justices, and elected and appointed officials swear an oath to support the Constitution.

    They have done no such thing.
    __________________________________

    The singular American failure is the Supreme Court, which has supported the nullification of fundamental law and the incremental implementation of the principles of communism since 1860.

    The entire communistic American welfare state is unconstitutional including, but not limited to, admissions affirmative action, grade-inflation affirmative action, employment affirmative action, quotas, “welfare” financial assistance, food stamps, minimum wage, rent control, social services, forced busing, public housing, utility subsidies, WIC, SNAP, TANF, HAMP, HARP, TARP, HHS, HUD, EPA, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Labor, Energy, Obamacare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Social Security Supplemental Income, Medicare, Medicaid, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, etc.

    Article 1, Section 8, provides Congress the power to tax ONLY for debt, defense, and “…general (all, the whole) Welfare…,” omitting and, thereby, excluding any power to tax for individual Welfare, specific Welfare, particular Welfare, favor or charity. The same article enumerates and provides Congress the power to regulate ONLY the value of money, the flow of commerce among nations, States and Indian tribes, and land and naval Forces. Additionally, the 5th Amendment right to private property was initially qualified by the Framers and is, therefore, absolute, allowing no further qualification, and allowing ONLY the owner the power to “claim and exercise” dominion over private property.

    Government exists, under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to provide maximal freedom to individuals while government is severely limited and restricted to merely facilitating that maximal freedom of individuals through the provision of security and infrastructure only.

    Communists subjugate and rule by force. Americans are not asking for rights and freedoms from government. Americans already possess rights and freedoms, independent of any government altruism or generosity. Americans possessed their natural and God-given rights and freedoms before government was conceived.

  17. “Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out” —David Horowitz

    1. They’re coming to the surface now. They’re on their hind legs and talking like humans.

  18. “That seems… like a lot of people? In addition to the obvious observation that people like Hillary seem increasingly unmoored from reality, as well as wilfully deaf to the political consequences of their words — Maybe we need to formally deprogram you makes the “Basket of Deplorables” episode seem like a Valentine’s Day card — someone should point out that a month ago, on September 8th, Joe Biden renewed the original State of Emergency issued three days after 9/11 by George W. Bush. We spent the last 22 years giving presidents the ability to surveil, isolate, and detain even American citizens. Fortunately we’ll never regret those decisions!

    What impolitic comment is next? “We have enough railway capacity for the job”? “Welcome, future deprogrammed!” banners above the entrances to decommissioned military bases? These people are truly Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, and this would be funny, if Hillary Clinton’s mouth were not such an accurate weathervane for establishment thinking.”

    -Matt Taibbi, Racket News, https://www.racket.news/

    1. The Newsweek article on the FBI targeting Trump supporters is also worth reading. It’s linked in the Taibbi article. Several things struck me:

      1. There has been a shift from a focus on terrorism, which is legally defined, to violent extremism, which is not.

      2. The objective is to prevent in advance rather than respond after. This means that surveillance can begin on the merest of suspicions. A preliminary investigation can be opened based on mere allegations or “indications”, while assessments can be opened on an even more speculative basis. Perhaps not surprisingly, the number of assessments has grown massively, commencing in 2018, and especially in 2021. Newsweek describes assessments as spying. The increase may be due more to a widening of scope, and perceptions and politics within the FBI, rather than an increase in threat.

      3. The data are distorted in 2020, perhaps by the George Floyd riots, and especially in 2021, by the Jan 6 events. If you take these out, the so-called existential threat of domestic extremism may amount to very little.

      5. The motivation that counts was recently expanded from ideological action to political or social action, including targeting a political party or faction within it.

      The lack of definition, focus on ex ante prevention rather than ex post response, low and subjective thresholds for launching assessments and preliminary investigations, and targeting political and social motivations together create a huge risk of weaponisation.

  19. Democrat “re-education camps” for Republicans… it fits what they have become.

    1. Bad news, sane Democrats, JFK like Democrats, Bill Maher, Elon Musk, James Carville, our good professor Democrats, all think you woke leftists are stupid!
      If anyone needs a re-education camp, it is you.
      Get used to the idea. Sane Democrats think you are stupid. You do not represent them. They want nothing to do with you.

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