Hillary Clinton Warns Democrats Risk ‘Frightening’ Defeat if They Keep Taking ‘Extreme’ Positions: We’re ‘On the Precipice of Losing our Democracy’

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Hillary Clinton took a pessimistic view of the Democrats’ electoral prospects — warning that the party is setting itself up for a rejection around the country by embracing extremist positions.

In an interview published Friday, the former secretary of state sat down with Financial Times editor Edward Luce. During the conversation, she reflected on her 2016 presidential candidacy, the possible overturning of Roe V. Wade, and what her past dealings with Vladimir Putin tell her about the war in Ukraine. Clinton went on to voice a number of concerns about the Democratic Party’s break with “common-sense politics,” saying that it hurts their chances of winning elections in the future.

From the Times:

I cannot allow the lunch to end without questioning the direction of her party. I say that Democrats seem to be going out of their way to lose elections by elevating activist causes, notably the transgender debate, which are relevant only to a small minority. What sense does it make to depict J.K. Rowling as a fascist? To my surprise, Clinton shares the premise of my question. “We are standing on the precipice of losing our democracy, and everything that everybody else cares about then goes out the window,” she says. “Look, the most important thing is to win the next election. The alternative is so frightening that whatever does not help you win should not be a priority.”

Luce’s question refers to the fact that J.K. Rowling has become a controversial figure in recent years after making a number of objectionable comments about the transgender community. The conversation went on with Clinton warning Democrats to break off of the public campaign to “defund the police.”

“You need accountable measures. But you also need policing. It doesn’t even pass the common-sense politics test not to believe that,” she said. “Some positions are so extreme on both the right and the left that they retreat to their corners…Politics should be the art of addition not subtraction.”