Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted that the political attacks she faced during her 2016 presidential bid were “really effective.”
Sitting down for the Wednesday episode of the On with Kara Swisher podcast, Clinton discussed the efficacy of political smears amid the controversial Vivek Ramaswamy ad featuring his Democratic opponent’s estranged mother. She specifically recalled the “ads and memes and claims and conspiracies” about her as she faced off against Donald Trump in 2016, which ultimately led to him serving his first term as president.
Watch:
“Is there an ad that stuck with you that was against you that you were like, I cannot believe they just did that?” Swisher asked.
“You know, most of the really effective ads and memes and claims and conspiracies about me happened online,” Clinton replied.
“You remember you were a lizard,” Swisher recalled.
“Honest to goodness, you know, Facebook was the worst offender against me and Pizzagate, which you know was, you know, just a huge lie that took off,” the former secretary of state said. “And you know, I can’t really catalog them all because there were so many of them. And you know that was like 10 years ago and we were frankly ill prepared, unaware of how effective it could be.”
“I’m asking if there’s one that got you like, oh my God,” Swisher clarified.
“I look, I think Pizzagate was really effective when people, you know, when these ads against me, these really terrible, horrible, false claims about me were running all over the internet, some with Russian money for heaven’s sakes,” Clinton noted. “The people who were campaigning for me, they were on the phones, they were knocking on doors, they would have voters say, ‘You know what? I can’t vote for her because she kills people or she traffics children’ or whatever they were told and that they believed.”
“And when, you know, my supporters would say, ‘Where did you hear that? It’s not true.’ They’d say, ‘Oh, I saw it on the internet.’ And you know, the naivete and the susceptibility of people seeing a video or seeing something in print that looked legitimate was so powerful and that’s why you can’t count out all of the money that is being spent against our candidates to lie about them again,” she continued.
“It’s interesting ‘cuz you know, that Pizzagate thing did resonate. It really did. I’ve had lots of people- The lizard one was driving me crazy just cuz I was like, she’s not a lizard,” Swisher added.
“Yeah, I’ll show you my scales next time I see person,” Clinton snarked.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
- Hillary Clinton admits Pizzagate accusations worked — nearly a decade later, she’s still talking about them - October 28, 2026
- Former immigration judge explains what could put Ilhan Omar’s citizenship at risk - October 28, 2026
- Watchdog questions where DSA candidate’s money went — charity, business and campaign finances under scrutiny - October 28, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.