Hillary Clinton Calls Doctored Video of Nancy Pelosi ‘Sexist Trash’

Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton knows a thing or two about being the target of sexist smear
campaigns by Donald Trump and his supporters.

On Friday, Clinton, who
was targeted during the 2016 campaign by videos and online propaganda
promoting conspiracy theories about her health, denounced Trump for tweeting a
doctored video this week of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In the video, tweeted by Trump on Thursday, along with the
all-caps comment, “PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE,” the audio of
Pelosi speaking is clearly slowed down to make it appear that she repeatedly
slurred her words. Pelosi doesn’t
even drink alcohol.

Trump shared
the video from Fox Business’ Lou
Dobbs Tonight show. Before that, it already had been widely circulated
on social media.

Speaking at a Democratic Party luncheon in Houston, Clinton
said (emphasis mine), “Just look at what’s happened in the last 24 hours. The president and his
cronies have been running around spreading a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi. Now, it is sexist trash. But it is also a sign that Trump is running scared.”

Clinton’s comments were part of a speech on the importance
of enforcing laws in the U.S. and protecting the Constitution. “So, if you
believe in the rule of law and the responsibility we all have to hold our
leaders accountable, then we cannot relent on this front, either,” she added.

In an Op-Ed
in The Washington Post in
late April, following the release of the Mueller report, Clinton called for
caution on the impeachment question, writing that “the nation’s interests will
be best served by putting party and political considerations aside and being
deliberate, fair and fearless.”

She noted
that, “Congress should hold substantive hearings that build on the Mueller
report and fill in its gaps, not jump straight to an up-or-down vote on
impeachment.”

Regarding the sharing of the doctored video of Pelosi on its
social media network, Facebook
decided Friday not to take it down, as our sister site Gizmodo reported.

As Gizmodo noted:

First, the video will appear alongside a related article
from a third-party fact-checking website (which, ostensibly, will point out
that the video is indeed altered—though no such context appears directly on the
video page itself.) And secondly, while the post will remain hosted and
available, Facebook claims it will limit its reach on the platform, though by
what amount or exact means remains unknown. In other words, it’s trying to find
a middle ground on a politically potent piece of content.

The video already had over 2.5
million views as of Friday afternoon.

Pelosi’s daughter, Christine Pelosi, also
defended her mom, noting on Twitter that the Speaker doesn’t drink alcohol.
She also shared a comment on Facebook, which she reported, that said Nancy
Pelosi “obviously suffers from involuntary tremors due to her alcoholism.”

“This is the cr*p I’m talking about,” Christine Pelosi
tweeted. She added, “Obviously this doesn’t stop ME but others are affected by
the ‘voter depression’ strategy that Trump allies are perpetuating.”

She tweeted later
that, “Trump enablers have a deep aversion to the truth and disturbing need to
doctor videos – especially of women.”