Hillary Clinton: Fake News Is An ‘Epidemic’ Now That ‘Lives Are At Risk’

After officially conceding the presidential election to Donald Trump on Wednesday, November 9th, Hillary Clinton has largely stayed out of the limelight. Occasional appearances on other people’s social media and in private meetings with Democratic donors have come and gone, though the former secretary of state has kept to herself. This all changed on Thursday when Clinton spoke at the portrait unveiling for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Capitol Hill — her first time in the building since before the election.

Instead of discussing the more questionable aspects of the election results, Clinton honed in on another matter that her name has been attached to as of late — fake news. She didn’t mention the recent shooting at the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington D.C. or the #Pizzagate conspiracy behind it, but Clinton did emphasize the need to address the growing “epidemic”:

“The epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year — it’s now clear that so-called fake news can have real-world consequences. This isn’t about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk. Lives of ordinary people just trying to go about their days to do their jobs, contribute to their communities. It’s a danger that must be addressed, and addressed quickly.”

Clinton went on to reference “bipartisan legislation” that, according to the Guardian, “would create a new high-level body aimed at thwarting covert Russian political interference around the world.” She also alluded to Silicon Valley’s movers and shakers who are “starting to grapple the challenge and threat of fake news,” albeit with widely varying degrees of apparent sincerity.

While the Democratic presidential nominee didn’t spend too much time dwelling on her loss to Trump, according to ABC News she quipped “this is not exactly the speech at the Capitol I hoped to give” when she first rose to address the audience. Clinton also vaguely referenced the many sighting of her and her dogs in the woods of New York, as well as Saturday Night Live‘s hilarious parody of the matter with Kate McKinnon.

(Via ABC News)

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