Fact Check

Hillary Calls for the End of the U.S. and One 'Hemispheric' Government

In an e-mail published by WikiLeaks, Hillary Clinton said she dreamed of a "hemispheric common market," not the abolition of the United States government.

Published Oct. 12, 2016

Claim:
Hillary Clinton wants to bring an end to the United States as we know it in favor of a 'hemispheric government.'

On 8 October 2016, the right-wing blog TruthFeed reported that documents released by WikiLeaks show Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wants to end to the United States and replace it with a "Hemispheric Government" because she is an "extreme globalist":

The most frightening thing about the recent Wikileaks drop, which included excerpts of Hillary’s paid Wall St. speeches is her excitement over ending the United States as we know it.

Hillary is an extreme globalist.

She not only embraces the globalist mentality but she actually wants to end the U.S. as we know it and replace it with a “Hemispheric Government.”

No wonder Angela Merkel is her “favorite leader.”

Hillary wants to turn the United States into Germany — or worse.

TruthFeed is, of course, wading deep into conspiracy theory territory, pushing idea that a secret cabal of global elites are plotting an overthrow of democratic governments to form an autocratic New World Order.

The material referenced by TruthFeed was Clinton campaign e-mail correspondence published by WikiLeaks that revealed excerpts from paid speeches Hillary Clinton gave in recent years, before her presidential bid. As the Wall Street Journal noted, the e-mails "appear to show Mrs. Clinton taking a tone in private that is more favorable to free trade and to banks than she has often taken on the campaign trail":

The WikiLeaks documents suggest Clinton campaign research director Tony Carrk emailed excerpts of Mrs. Clinton’s speeches to senior campaign officials, including [campaign chairman John] Podesta and communications director Jennifer Palmieri, calling them the “flags from HRC’s paid speeches.”

Mr. Carrk said he had obtained the transcripts from “HWA,” an apparent reference to the Harry Walker Agency, which arranged Mrs. Clinton’s paid speeches after she left the State Department in 2013.

“I put some highlights below,” Mr. Carrk wrote. “There is a lot of policy positions that we should give an extra scrub with Policy.”

In that vein, Clinton did not advocate the creation of a "hemispheric government" that would supplant the the United States. Instead, she was expressing pro-trade positions to her audience of business people, saying she dreamed of a "hemispheric common market, with open trade, not creating a single central "hemispheric" government. She made no mention (directly or indirectly) of "ending the United States as we know it":

My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, some time in the future with energy that is as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere.

The e-mail that contained this wording was sent between Clinton campaign staffers on 25 January 2016, with the following introduction:

Team,

Attached are the flags from HRC’s paid speeches we have from HWA [Harry Walker Agency]. I put some highlights below. There is a lot of policy positions that we should give an extra scrub with Policy.

In terms of what was opened to the press and what was not, the Washington Examiner got a hold of one of the private speech contracts (her speeches to universities were typically open press), so this is worth a read.

The relevant e-mails can be read on WikiLeaks here.

Sources

Moreno, Amy.   "Hillary Calls for the End of the U.S. and One 'Hemispheric' Government."     TruthFeed.   8 October 2016.

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who has been working in the news industry since 2006.