Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is planning to start a new political organization dedicated to financing “resistance” groups battling President Donald Trump. The news comes less than a week after Clinton said she was “part of the resistance” to Trump in an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN.
“I’m now back to being an activist citizen and part of the resistance,” she said. “Activism is more important than ever, and it’s working, from the women’s marches across the country and around the globe to helping to bring down the Republicans’ terrible health care bill. But we have to keep going.”
A source told CNN that the former Democratic nominee is “particularly fired up” about her new venture.
The organization will reportedly be called Onward Together — a reference to her campaign slogan, “Stronger Together” — and will work to identify groups that stand to gain the most from additional, outside funding. Clinton plans to act as connector to facilitate working relationships between such groups and potential donors. According to Axios, the political action committee will also help support 2018 congressional candidates.
Clinton started developing the idea after meeting with a number of young political activists. The point was to galvanize young people in their struggle against the Trump administration, but Clinton reportedly came away from the meetings feeling that she could do more. The organization will be staffed by a small group of Clinton’s personal aides. Dennis Cheng, her campaign finance director and longtime fundraiser, and Judith McHale, her former deputy at the State Department, are both involved. Clinton is now working to put together a board of directors.
It is unclear when the project will be officially launched, although some sources indicated it could happen within a week. Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill declined to comment on the project to CNN. While Clinton’s maintains that she will not run for president again, she says she does not intend to retreat from the public eye and hopes to help Democrats win back the House in 2016. Axios reports that she is going to continue doing paid speeches. She is also working on a book that is due to be released in the fall.
“I wouldn’t say it’s therapy,” she said of the book-writing process. “I would say it is cathartic. Because, you know, it’s very difficult to succeed a two-term president of your own party … Others may not have realized it. I always knew that it was going to be a hard election.”
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