Chelsea Clinton: Trump Degrades 'What It Means To Be An American'

Chelsea Clinton skewered President Donald Trump's character in a recent

Chelsea Clinton skewered President Donald Trump’s character in a recent interview, accusing him of degrading “what it means to be an American.”

Clinton, a philanthropist and the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, tore into Trump when asked about his planned July visit to Britain during an interview published Saturday in The Guardian.

“If I lived in Britain I would show up to protest, because I don’t agree with what he’s doing to degrade what it means to be an American,” Clinton said.

Clinton, 38, also told the newspaper that she’s been the target of “vitriol” for as long as she could remember and credited Trump for prompting her decision to start firing back at people who say “hateful” things to her.

“The reason, now, I no longer ignore it when people say hateful things to me on the street or on social media is, I think we have to shine a light,” Clinton said.

“I think those of us who have platforms to do that have to say this is wrong and unacceptable, so we don’t normalize it but try to detoxify what has been unleashed,” she said. “Because if we don’t, we leave a vacuum. And I think the darkness fills that vacuum.”

Trump has continued to call for Hillary Clinton, his 2016 election opponent, to be jailed for her e-mail practices as secretary of state, even though the FBI almost two years ago concluded no charges were warranted. The president has also mocked women’s appearances and promoted bigoted views.

“I think that the way that our president and many people around him have not only mainstreamed hate, but mainlined it, is so deeply dangerous,” Clinton said.

“I think the wreckage that we’re seeing at this moment is one that will, I hope, be repaired on the policy standpoint when we elect Democrats,” she continued. “But I think we will still then have work to do on repairing the tone in our country, the exposure of the real racist and sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic feeling which is on the rise in our country ― a rot that has been exposed.”

Clinton praised the “hugely important” First Amendment, but said “freedom of speech” doesn’t mean there should be a “freedom of consequences.”

“Sure, you should not be in prison because you said something racist,” Clinton said. “But you also shouldn’t be able to run for president. And yet here we are.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.