Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had an extended argument on Monday with a heckler screaming about the “warmongering” policies of President Joe Biden.
During a panel event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at Columbia University in New York City, Clinton and an unnamed man engaged in a heated exchange that went on for more than three minutes.
The panel discussion, moderated by Clinton, abruptly ground to a halt over the man’s demands that Clinton address his claim that the “idiotic” policies of Biden run the risk of setting off World War III.
While Clinton was talking about international human rights violations with former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, the man could be heard loudly speaking about “hypocrisy” from the crowd.
“I’m sorry, we have two more people to hear from,” Clinton responded as the man continued to shout. “You have a chance to…well, I’m not sorry. You sit down, and we’re going to let other people talk.”
Despite Clinton attempting to move on with the discussion, the man’s voice got louder as he shouted demands for Clinton to denounce Biden’s “warmongering” speech.
“President Joe Biden’s calling for $100 billion of funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine,” the man said, referring to the president’s address last week. “We’re supposed to just bundle these together and pretend like we’re gonna rush to World War III.”
“And we’re all just gonna let Hillary Rodham Clinton sit here?” he added before being approached by event staff.
“I’m sorry, this is not the way to have a conversation,” said Clinton. “If you want to have a conversation, you’re welcome to come talk to me afterward.”
The man said that he didn’t believe that Clinton would actually meet with him before saying that “the American people’s voice needs to be heard…because the president’s not speaking for the people, and neither are you.”
“Well, that’s your opinion,” Clinton said. “Sit down, we’ve heard your opinion, thank you very much. Now we’re going to turn to people who are on the front lines of working on behalf of human rights.”
The man repeatedly argued that he was shouting over the panel to “exercise my free speech.”
At one point, he gestured to the stage and told the crowd, “That is not free speech,” claiming that the panel was “constructing narratives that are openly hypocritical.”
He went on to criticize the creation of the UDHR, which was drafted by a committee chaired by former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and adopted by the United Nations in 1948, prompting sarcastic mockery from Clinton.
“Oh yeah, well, you’re brilliant in your historical cherry-picking,” said Clinton.
The man shouted again as staff attempted to intervene and Clinton said that she would move on to discuss the topic with panel members who were “fighting for human rights, not just yelling about it.”
“What I want to hear is Hillary Rodham Clinton to denounce Joe Biden’s warmongering speech,” the man yelled while waving his arms. “He’s trying to push us to World War II!”
“It’s not about Israel and Palestine,” the man continued. “This isn’t football, it’s not Team America!”
MANDEL NGAN/AFP
Clinton snapped back, saying, “Well, I’m sorry, some of us are on ‘Team America’ despite our flaws and our problems.” Audience members clapped in response.
Panel member Dr. Allida Black, a historian who is considered a leading expert on the UDHR, admonished the heckler for interrupting and said that she would take the accomplishments of the panel over him “any day of the year.”
“What have you done other than stand up and disrupt?” Black asked.
“What I have done is I’ve asked Hillary Rodham Clinton to denounce the president’s openly warmongering, suicidal, idiotic speech,” the man said. “That’s what I’ve asked, that’s what I’ve done!”
The incident ended with Clinton replying that she had “given her answer” and “will not do that, so that’s the end of our conversation,” telling the man, “you’re done,” as a member of the event staff demanded his identification.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the White House and to Clinton’s office via email on Tuesday.
The man’s identity was unclear. A video of the moment taken from the crowd behind the man was shared to X, formerly Twitter, by right-wing commentator Benny Johnson and the account @4Mischief, run by a self-described “MAGA aficionado.”
Johnson argued while sharing the video that Clinton had “snapped” and was responsible for an “unhinged screaming match with heckler exposing ruling class warmongering,” while @4Mischief praised the heckler as a “legend” for “not taking Clinton’s “bulls***.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.