The Onion

It’s not as close to an exact quote as I thought, to be honest, but I stand by the sentiment that the statement was unsupportive of the trans community.

My espresso has arrived. Clinton asks for more iced tea. 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 JK 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.”

From an interview with the Financial Times

I’d note 4 things:

1. The question is obviously heavily framed as an anti-trans question
2. A lot of right wing news outlets reported the initial question as if Clinton herself was the one who said it, which isn’t true.
3. Most non-right-wing outlets didn’t mention the context that she was responding to a question about trans people at all
4. She never retracted or clarified her statement after the fact