Hillary Clinton is drawing backlash after warning that the next Democratic president should remove Trump administration holdovers who could potentially undermine a new administration from within. During an appearance on the Pivot podcast, the former U.S. senator representing New York and former secretary of state cautioned Democrats against allowing Trump appointees to remain quietly embedded in the federal government.
In the viral clip, Clinton says a future Democratic president must “get rid of all of the holdovers.”
“Do not let anybody hang around in some small office somewhere who can literally subvert your program and you don’t even know that person’s there,” Clinton said. She added that officials would need to be “really searching” to ensure a future administration was not “literally subverted from within the government.”
Clinton also predicted that Trump and his allies would attempt to move political appointees into career civil-service positions before leaving office.
The distinction between political appointees and career federal workers is important. Political appointees routinely leave government when presidential administrations change, while career civil servants generally remain across administrations and have additional employment protections. Clinton appeared particularly concerned that Trump officials could be moved into career positions before a future Democratic administration takes office.
The viral X clip contains only a portion of Clinton’s broader Pivot appearance, during which she discussed several political issues and offered advice about how Democrats should approach a future administration.
Clinton’s warning also comes after controversial remarks she made about resistance from inside the current administration. During a July podcast appearance, Clinton said she hoped career officials within intelligence agencies would “slow-walk” or refuse to share certain information with acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, whom she accused of participating in a partisan takeover of the intelligence apparatus.
Hillary Clinton’s ‘Subverted From Within’ Warning Sparks Backlash
Clinton’s latest comments prompted accusations of hypocrisy and projection from critics online.
“Hillary wins projection,” one person wrote. Another called the remarks “Pure Insane Projection at the highest level.”
Others argued that Democrats had previously objected to the Trump administration’s efforts to remove federal employees and questioned why Clinton was now warning about officials remaining inside government. “You mean, like they’re doing to Trump? You wrote the playbook!” one commenter wrote.
Some went even further, interpreting Clinton’s remarks through the long-running political debate over a so-called “deep state.” “Sounds like a Deep State confession to me!” one person wrote.
However, Clinton’s remarks were specifically focused on holdovers and the possibility of political appointees being moved into career positions. Political appointees and protected career civil servants are not interchangeable, making that distinction important when interpreting what she was advocating.
Clinton framed her warning as practical advice for Democrats preparing for a future presidential transition, but critics heard something else entirely: an acknowledgment of just how much influence officials remaining inside the federal government can wield after the White House changes hands. Her warning about being “subverted from within” ensured the debate didn’t stay confined to the Pivot podcast for long.
