Swisher opened the subject by bringing up the notorious Access Hollywood recording, which became a major weapon against Trump during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential race.
The recording, published by The Washington Post in October 2016, captured Trump having a private conversation with television personality Billy Bush. During the exchange, Trump made crude remarks about his interactions with women.
“I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything,” Trump told Billy Bush.
The disclosure sparked an enormous political controversy and prompted widespread criticism from Democrats and members of the media. Clinton’s campaign seized on the recording as a potentially decisive opportunity to damage Trump’s presidential prospects just weeks before Election Day.
However, the controversy ultimately failed to deliver the outcome Democrats wanted.
Despite relentless media coverage and repeated attacks from his political opponents, Trump defeated Clinton in November 2016, winning the Electoral College and securing the presidency in one of the most consequential political upsets in modern American history.
Nearly a decade later, Swisher brought the controversy back into the conversation with a question that immediately caught Clinton’s attention.
“So Madam Secretary, has the pussy finally grabbed back?” Swisher asked Hillary.
Clinton responded with laughter before delivering a brief but unmistakably pointed answer.
“With all claws!”
The exchange prompted amusement during the interview, but Clinton quickly shifted from the crude joke to a broader celebration of the Democratic Party’s electoral performance.
She portrayed the midterm results as a sweeping rejection of Trump’s presidency, accusing the president and his administration of inflicting damage on the country and the international community.
“This is a total rebuke of Donald Trump and his cult and the many wrongheaded evil policies that he’s inflicted on us and the world,” Clinton added.
Her comments reflected the celebratory mood among Democrats following their victories, with the party eager to present the election results as evidence that voters are increasingly dissatisfied with the Republican administration.
Clinton also credited Democratic candidates and their campaign strategies, arguing that their emphasis on economic concerns and government accountability helped propel them to victory.
“But it’s also a real tribute to Democratic candidates and the campaigns they ran and how strong they were on the main issues of affordability and corruption. We had to finally lift the poisonous cloud that Trump has put over our heads for the last ten long years, but we also have a new crop of very exciting public servants,” Hillary Clinton said.
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Her remarks suggest that Clinton views the election results as more than an ordinary change in congressional control. She appears to see them as an opportunity for Democrats to rebuild their political identity and introduce a new generation of candidates capable of challenging Trump’s influence.
Still, Clinton’s enthusiastic celebration carries an unmistakable sense of political irony.
The former secretary of state has now experienced two unsuccessful presidential campaigns, first losing the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008 before suffering her nationally prominent defeat to Trump eight years later.
The 2016 Access Hollywood recording was widely regarded by Democrats as one of their strongest opportunities to derail Trump’s campaign. Clinton’s team hoped the controversy would become a defining moment in the closing stretch of the election.
Instead, Trump survived the political firestorm and went on to defeat Clinton, leaving Democrats struggling to explain how a candidate facing such extraordinary media scrutiny managed to win the presidency.
Now, with Democrats celebrating their midterm victories, Clinton is once again using the moment to revisit that political rivalry.
Her appearance with Swisher also demonstrates how central Trump remains to the Democratic Party’s political messaging. Even while celebrating victories and promoting a new generation of candidates, Clinton devoted considerable attention to the president and the controversies surrounding his political career.
For Democrats, the election results provide an opportunity to claim renewed momentum heading into the next phase of Trump’s presidency.
For Republicans, however, the immediate question is whether the party can regroup, address the political vulnerabilities exposed by the midterms, and prevent Democrats from turning their congressional victories into a longer-term political realignment.
One thing is certain: Clinton has not abandoned her criticism of Trump.
And judging by her reaction to Swisher’s question, she appears more than happy to revisit the bitter political history between them whenever the opportunity presents itself.
