Clinton Says 2016 ‘Pizzagate’ Conspiracy Was “Really Effective”

Overview

• Hillary Clinton told Kara Swisher that the Pizzagate falsehoods circulated in 2016 were “really effective” at persuading voters against her and ran widely across online platforms.
• Clinton said social media, especially Facebook, amplified those conspiracies and that some content had links to Russian money, which led some voters to believe extreme, false claims.
• She described her 2016 campaign as unprepared for the scale of online lies and warned that paid political attacks can repeat the same tactics today.
• Clinton decried a recent Vivek Ramaswamy ad that features an older woman who publicly sided with her husband after he was indicted for abusing Amy Acton when Acton was 12, a backstory that prompted bipartisan outrage.
• The remarks tie together two issues—platform responsibility for spreading false claims and political accountability for ad tactics—and signal renewed pressure on officials such as outgoing Ohio governor Mike DeWine to condemn candidates who use misleading or harmful spots.