Hillary'S 2016 warnings get a second look as Democrats chart their future

Think about where you were 10 years ago tonight. You were likely watching one of those contentious debates between then-candidate Donald Trump and then-candidate Hillary Clinton. And the topic turned to Vladimir Putin. Let's talk about what we've learned 10 years later on the dynamic between the now president and Russia with my guest, Kaivon Shroff, who, by the way, worked on the Clinton campaign back in 2016. He's up with me tonight here on The Final Five. Hey, Kaivon, good to see you again. Always good to see you. Okay, not a puppet, not a puppet. And that became an infamous back and forth from that moment. You know, I think there were some points in the Donald Trump presidencies where you thought maybe he was turning the corner. Maybe he was gonna show some resistance of Vladimir Putin. But then we saw this energy deal from a couple of weeks ago. It is really amazing to look back 10 years and see all the things that Secretary Clinton warned us about and had 100% right. It is like she was psychic. Not only did she call Trump Putin's puppet, and of course, to your point, we're seeing that play out even 10 years later, but she warned, right, that he would betray our NATO allies. She even warned that he would start a trade war with China over tariffs and drive prices up for Americans, that he would give tax cuts to his billionaire friends, that he would start a war with Iran by shredding the Iran nuclear deal. So such specific items, including, right, overturning Roe v. Wade, just thing after thing that she got right. And people did not take it seriously. And folks like Chuck Todd mocked her for being overprepared. If you remember, her campaign book that the press refused to cover pretty much had on page nine, a pandemic preparedness plan. So it's not an overstatement to say lives would have been saved over the last 10 years had we elected Hillary Clinton. It's really a stunning thing to look back on. Okay, but we can look back and we've had two presidential elections since then. We're on the cusp very soon of another one. And you can look back and say, could have, should have, would have. What good does that do in 2026? I think it is worth looking back, you know, because we can learn from mistakes made. And ideally, you know, everyone always wants to point to whether it's Hillary Clinton or campaign or some nebulous Democrat to blame. But what if they looked at themselves and what they were doing 10 years ago and how they were processing information and how they were laughing at Donald Trump or watching Jimmy Falun do it. And we all have a part of the culture and democracy we live in today. So there should be some reflection. I think that's incredibly valuable. And I will say, you know, even looking who is right matters, right? I mean, everyone can talk and everyone can say whatever they want. But when you look back and you see a record like that, where somebody was so accurate down to a T on so many critical issues, you have to concede something there. And I actually, I'm excited to see that Hillary's actually back out there Leading up to midterms and she's joining Kara Swisher on her podcast with a special, I think, short run where it's going to be all episodes of her because there's sort of this race to the bottom, I think, among Democrats trying to catch up with Republicans on social media, in the podcast sphere. And the content is getting dumber and dumber and less and less expertise is being valued. And I think what looking back at Hillary's ability to predict the future in that way says is that there is something to be said for expertise and knowledge and experience. And so it's interesting to see her take on this medium of the podcast, because I think it shows a different model to an extent that it's not just about saying a clickbait one liner and you can really have a useful discussion. And we shouldn't abandon those folks in the party who are interested in rich history and knowledge and facts. In the podcast realm, is there room to change minds? Because I feel as though you have so many options out there. Somebody who listens to say, Pod Save America, they're pretty much set in their ways, just like you're listening to one of the many right-leaning podcasts out there. So where's the on-ramp here for Hillary to make this more than a told-you-so moment? Well, I actually think there is value, right? Because there is a big tent right now in the anti-MAGA coalition, but where do we go from there as we head into a 2028 presidential election? And I think a lot of times we're seeing even folks like a Cory Booker, who would have once been thought to be a very moderate sort of responsible leader, read off pretty ridiculous policies that seem like they were crowdsourced from Twitter about tax policy and the like. And so I think by taking back her platform and speaking and sharing her thinking and ideas, Hillary actually creates a permission structure for other candidates in that 2028 field, but across the party to really say what they think on some of these issues and not fall for, you know, the trap that whether you want to call it woke one or whatever it is that now even folks like AOC are trying to distance themselves from where there wasn't a lot of, OK, let's pause and think what actually makes sense here. And a lot of giving in to what seemed trendy and sort of, you know, very online. And I think the party's gone pretty far in that direction recently with little gains to show for it, right? I mean, it's sort of a self-defeating premise that you give over the reins of your party and decision making to the loudest voice on Twitter. And even Zoran Mamdani is experiencing that right now, right? With revolts from folks like Hassan Piker and a lot of the people that really supported him early on, because you can never appease somebody whose business model is outrage. Not to mention his recent overtures to the Jewish community in New York City, which was met with a lot of disdain by many of those same corners, many of those same detractors. And we certainly know how Zoran Mamdani feels about Israel, about the leadership of Israel. And so obviously, you're right. To that point, when you have those echo chambers, sometimes people have this purity test. You have to stand for everything that I stand for, or I don't stand with you at all. Lots more we could talk about on this one, but I thought it was interesting just on this anniversary to talk about that. Kai Barnes, good to see you again, my friend. Great to see you.