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Nov. 23, 2018 / 11:25 PM GMT

By Dareh Gregorian

Hillary Clinton on Friday attempted to clarify her comments on European migration hailed by some on the far right, saying that immigration reform, "not open borders," is needed "on both sides of the Atlantic."

I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee told the Guardian newspaper in an interview published Thursday.

Far right parties have used the issue in Europe to score several election victories.

I admire the very generous and compassionate approaches that were taken particularly by leaders like (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel, but I think it is fair to say Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message we are not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support because if we dont deal with the migration issue it will continue to roil the body politic, Clinton continued.

While Clinton went on to criticize those who prey upon fear of immigrants, her comments earned her praise from some of her foes in Europe, which has been grappling with a massive influx of refugees from the Middle East. Between 2015 and 2016, more than one million migrants and refugees came to the European Union.

Maybe Hillary has understood the lesson, Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, told The New York Times. If you dont control migration it will affect mostly poor people, people living on the outskirts, working classes."

In a series of tweets Friday afternoon, Clinton said, "In a recent interview, I talked about how Europe must reject right-wing nationalism and authoritarianism, including by addressing migration with courage and compassion."

The "EU needs a more comprehensive policy that builds societies that are both secure and welcoming," she continued.

"On both sides of the Atlantic, we need reform. Not open borders, but immigration laws enforced with fairness and respect for human rights. We cant let fear or bias force us to give up the values that have made our democracies both great and good," she wrote.

"Can't just keep doing the same things."

In the Guardian interview, Clinton took a number of shots at how President Donald Trump has handled the issue in the United States.

The use of immigrants as a political device and as a symbol of government gone wrong, of attacks on ones heritage, ones identity, ones national unity has been very much exploited by the current administration here," she said.

There are solutions to migration that do not require clamping down on the press, on your political opponents and trying to suborn the judiciary, or seeking financial and political help from Russia to support your political parties and movements.

Dareh Gregorian

Dareh Gregorian writes for NBC News.

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Hillary Clinton calls for reform, 'not open borders,' in ...

European leaders need to get an handle on immigration in order to stem the rise of xenophobic populism, Hillary Clinton warned in an interview.

Europe has done its part by accepting migrants from around the world, the former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate told the Guardian. But she also contended that by opening the door to those seeking refuge, the continent had welcomed political upheaval. Fears over immigration fanned the flames of identity-based political backlashes, she said, while suggesting it underpinned everything from the United Kingdoms vote to leave the European Union to the election of President Donald Trump.

I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame of populism, she said.

While she expressed admiration for the very generous and compassionate approaches toward immigration taken by leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Clinton advised Europe to send a very clear message we are not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support.'

The European Union has sustained deep political divides over immigration. While the bloc absorbed over 1 million migrants and refugees in 2015 alone, the influx has notably declined since 186,768 total migrants entered the E.U. in 2017, mostly through Italy and Greece, according to the International Organization for Migration. Despite the drop in arrivals, stridently anti-immigration politics have gained ground in countries like Austria, Italy, and Hungary. The E.U. announced plans in September for a 10,000-strong border guard force to check undocumented migration by 2020.

Read more: Why Italys Matteo Salvini Is the Most Feared Man in Europe

Clintons comments were met with dismay from immigration experts and advocates. As the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, Clinton had promised to embrace immigrants, not denigrate them, a strong contrast to Donald Trumps calls to deport bad hombres and enact a complete shutdown on Muslim immigration to the U.S.

If shes simply saying you need to cut down on refugees coming to Europe to ask for asylum because they have a well-founded fear of persecution, just to appease some right-wing political leaders, its just not the right thing to do, said Eskinder Negash, president of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, according to the New York Times.

Write to Eli Meixler at eli.meixler@time.com.

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Hillary Clinton: Europe Needs to 'Get a Handle ...

Ruth Marcus

Overseeing Washington Post signed opinion content and writing on domestic politics and policy

Deputy editorial page editor

Between the man who is president and the woman who ran against him, there is, for me, no contest; Hillary Clinton would have been a far better president than Donald Trump. But both Trump and Clinton, in their own trademark ways, stepped in it again this week when it comes to women.

Trumps comments describing Stormy Daniels as Horseface are the more offensive if for no other reason than that he is the president, and presidential words carry extra weight. Yet Clintons comments insisting that her husbands affair with Monica Lewinsky did not constitute an abuse of power because Lewinsky, then 22, was an adult are the more painful because she could have, should have, done better.

Trump played to piggish type with his comment about Daniels, the adult-film actress who was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump. This was not a spur-of-the-moment utterance, it was a tweet about a judges ruling in Trumps favor in a defamation suit filed by Daniels: Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer, Trump wrote.

Horseface now joins the panoply of Trumps greatest sexist hits: Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? (Carly Fiorina). Face of a pig (Gail Collins). Fat, ugly face (Rosie ODonnell). Blood coming out of her wherever (Megyn Kelly). That this is not anywhere near the complete list tells you everything you need to know about Trumps unrelenting offensiveness.

[Carly Fiorina: Trump has disparaged womens looks including mine. But we have bigger problems.]

This far into the administration, it is folly to expect some version of presidential Trump to emerge. Indeed, just two days before Horseface, there was Trump on 60 Minutes, behaving in a way that is more subtle but also more chilling. At one point in the interview, Leslie Stahl recounts Christine Blasey Fords searing testimony about the indelible laughter of Brett M. Kavanaugh and his friend. Trump shrugs it off, literally. His shoulders rise. He tilts his head in one direction, then another. Okay fine, he says. Whatever.

I watched you mimic her and thousands of people were laughing at her, Stahl told Trump. She invited regret; the president responded with unadulterated callousness. The way now-Justice Kavanaugh was treated has become a big factor in the midterms. Have you seen whats gone on with the polls? And, the ultimate in Trumpian instrumentalism: It doesnt matter. We won.

Once we scoffed at Bill Clinton for being the feel-your-pain president. Now we have a president who is only capable of feeling the pain of those who are similarly aggrieved.

Speaking of Bill Clinton, there was his wife on CBSs Sunday Morning, being asked about workplace conduct in the clarifying light of the #MeToo movement. In retrospect, do you think Bill shouldve resigned in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal? asked correspondent Tony Dokoupil.

Clinton, without hesitation: Absolutely not.

Dokoupil: It wasnt an abuse of power?

Clinton: No, no.

Dokoupil: There are people who look at the incidents of the 90s and they say, A president of the United States cannot have a consensual relationship with an intern, the power imbalance is too great.

Clinton, interjecting mid-sentence: Who was an adult. But let me ask you this: Wheres the investigation of the current incumbent against whom numerous allegations have been made and which he dismisses, denies and ridicules?

Who was an adult . How can she say that, as if that is relevant in any way? Lewinskys technical adulthood is no defense for Bill Clintons behavior in the workplace, as her superior (not to mention president), as a man old enough to be her father. And whatever the reasons for Hillary Clintons instinctive defense of her husbands behavior then, her summary dismissal of it now diminishes her claim to feminism.

Would it not be possible for her to choke out something like: Weve all had some time to think about this and, yes, this was unacceptable workplace behavior. I dont think a president who was elected by the country should have resigned over it, but I also think this conduct was seriously wrong.

But this is not, it never has been, in Hillary Clintons emotional repertoire. She does not cede a millimeter; like Trump, she is allergic to apology. Like Trump, she is prone to whataboutism. If what Bill Clinton did was wrong, why does it matter if what Trump has done is wronger, if indeed it was? Whataboutism is an argument for losers, whichever side deploys it.

And so we are left with this depressing juxtaposition: a president who never hesitates to stoop in demeaning women. And a shouldve-been-president who is a champion for women, except those mistreated by her husband. If Trump never fails to infuriate, Clinton consistently disappoints.

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.FILE - Hillary Clinton talks with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, during The Atlantic Festival, in Washington. (AP)

If Democrats are to be successful in this years midterm elections, they may need to hold an intervention to stop Hillary Clinton from complicating their lives with incendiary comments and unnecessary drama, according to a New York Times op-ed from a member of the editorial board.

In her column, Michelle Cottleargues Clinton's rash of appearances on national TV and other venues todiscusshot-button issueswill only cause problems for her party.

In a recent interview, Clintonadvocated throwing out civility when dealing with the Republican Party, which could turn offswing voters being courted by Democratsas the partyseeks a congressional majority.

"You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about," Clinton said in an Oct. 9 sit-downwith CNN.

Cottle wrote that the message could energize the GOP, whose base sees Clinton as the ultimate boogeyman to be invoked when a Republican politician is having trouble exciting his constituents.

What could be more helpful than Crooked Hillary inflaming partisan passions, she wrote.

During a recent appearance on CBS Sunday Morning, Clintons take on her husbands affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky didnt help either, Cottle said.

During the interview, Clinton pointed out that Lewinsky was an adult at the time of the dalliance and that former President Bill Clinton was right to not resign.

She then demandedto know why no one was investigating the multiple sexual harassment accusations against President Trump.

By playing down her own husbands acts, she makes it easier for Trump supporters to ignore his, Cottle said.

Clinton also rejected a suggestion that having not contended fully with her husbands accusers makes it harder for her to be an effective supporter of #MeToo movement.

Well, no because there was the most intense, comprehensive investigation, which she believes came out in the right place, Clinton said in the interview.

It is that moral arrogance, Cottle said, that has troubled some Democrats.

Ahead of the midterms, the plan for Republicans is to closely tie Clinton to the Democratic Party.

Were going to make them own her, a Republican National Committee spokesman said.

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Dems may need intervention to contain Hillary Clinton, NYT ...

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security clearance has been revoked at her request, the State Department told lawmakers, according to a letter made public Friday.

Clinton's clearance was withdrawn on Aug. 30, according to a letter from the State Department to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), which he released.

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Five others associated with Clinton, including longtime aide Cheryl Mills, also had their clearances revoked on Sept. 20, according to the letter. The aides were known as "research assistants," which allowed them to keep their clearances after their time at the department concluded.

The move comes almost a year after Grassley asked the department to investigate and review whether Clinton's aides still had security clearance.

Clinton in 2016 was investigated for her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. No charges were filed against Clinton, who was running for president at the time of the probe.

This summer, President Donald Trump revoked former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance, and the White House has said he is reviewing several other clearances of former top officials. Clinton's name was not on the list of those said to be under review.

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