Hillary Clinton: Europe needs to cut immigration flows to stop right-wing populism
Hillary Clinton: Europe needs to cut immigration flows to stop right-wing populism
by Naomi Lim
| November 22, 2018 01:31 PM
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Hillary Clinton says European leaders need to find ways to limit immigration flows because inaction on the continent was driving right-wing populism. “I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame,” Clinton told the Guardian in an interview published Thursday. “I admire the very generous and compassionate approaches that were taken particularly by leaders like Angela Merkel, but I think it is fair to say Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message — ‘we are not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support’ — because if we don’t deal with the migration issue it will continue to roil the body politic," she said.
Europe has been plagued by a migrant crisis, in part instigated by political upheaval in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, since 2015. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said Thursday the issue helped propel Donald Trump, her Republican opponent, into the White House. She said the Trump administration continues to exploit "one’s heritage, one’s identity, one’s national unity" as it seeks to reinforce immigration "as a symbol of government gone wrong."
Clinton skewered former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon for his role in pushing the anti-immigration agenda, comparing him to a Roman emperor for his "bread and circuses" approach to stirring up Trump's base. She also said the Trump-Bannon version of populism dovetailed with “a psychological as much as political yearning to be told what to do, and where to go, and how to live." "Keep people diverted, keep them riled up appeal to their prejudices, give them a sense they are part of something bigger than themselves, while elected leaders and business leaders steal them blind," she said. "It’s a classic story, and Bannon is the latest avatar of it.” Clinton has continued to be a vocal critic of Trump since her defeat, joining select Democrats seeking office in the 2018 midterm elections on the campaign trail.
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