Hillary Clinton’s ‘I’m Sorry’ Is A First In Election History
Hillary Clinton made history for more than one reason over the course of this past election cycle. Even though she isn’t the first woman to run for president, she did become the first woman to get close enough to the presidency to nearly touch it. That’s not the only “first,” manifested by the former New York senator. ABC News reports that she made history with the concession speech she presented after Donald Trump won the electoral vote.
Clinton said the words “I’m sorry” during her concession speech after Donald Trump was predicted the winner of the 2016 Presidential Election. In fact, she began her speech with those very important words.
“I’m sorry. This is not the outcome that we wanted and worked so hard for, and I am sorry that we did not win this election.”
New York Magazine reports that Hillary Clinton is the first candidate to apologize during a concession speech. This finding was made by the folks at Fortune, who analyzed decades of concession speeches made by former presidential candidates.
100% #ImStillWithHer For Prison! The American people want justice @realDonaldTrump! Appoint the special prosecutor ASAP!!!! pic.twitter.com/vaSrKXP17A
— USA For Trump 2016 (@USAforTrump2016) November 9, 2016
Hundreds of hate attacks recorded in US since election.#notmypresident #TRUMP pic.twitter.com/oOGJW9NnuY
— Islamic freedom ? (@islamicfreedom) November 16, 2016
So why is this “first” an important event? Fortune mentions the apparent bias that hovers over the use of the words “I’m sorry.” Women reportedly tend to apologize more than their male counterparts, even when they haven’t necessarily done anything wrong. On the other hand, researchers have found that men tend to be more reluctant about apologizing.
Donald Trump may have won, but no one can deny that more people wanted Hillary Clinton than him. #NotMyPresident #ImStillWithHer
— Noah (@superdramadude) November 9, 2016
Instead of electing woman who apologizes for hurt she didn’t cause, we elected man who’s not sorry for actual harm https://t.co/YuBlBmUkst
— UniteWomenOrg® (@UniteWomenOrg) November 16, 2016
Clinton has remained mostly silent since her historic concession speech. Meanwhile, protesters are taking to the streets in several U.S. cities, protesting the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States.
If half of the women in this country INSIST on setting us back, then the other half will have to get EXTRA nasty. #ImStillWithHer pic.twitter.com/S1RFmlhWV2
— GirlsReallyRule-Grr (@girlsreallyrule) November 13, 2016
Not only are people physically protesting — and rioting — across the nation, people on social media are also expressing anger at the election results. The hashtags #NotMyPresident and #ImStillWithHer continue to trend, even though it has been a week since the election. Even celebrities are getting involved.
Dude. #NotMyPresident pic.twitter.com/xcyWToYA6U
—????Wayne Dupree (@WayneDupreeShow) November 16, 2016
Damn. This hit me so hard. Retweet and spread this everywhere???? #NotMyPresident #ImStillWithHer pic.twitter.com/NtZgmjuq5G
— Common White Girl (@girlhoodposts) November 9, 2016
There’s no doubt that Hillary Clinton has made history over the past election cycle, but some people feel that saying “I’m sorry” is a sign of weakness. Meanwhile, some leading linguists believe that the meaning of the phrase was different in the context used by Clinton during the speech. Georgetown University linguist Deborah Tannen says that the former New York senator might have been simply expressing “an acknowledgment that, in this fight, she was not alone.” On the other hand, a report in New York Magazine seems to indicate that this apology was directed to girls and women, who looked forward to her shattering the ultimate glass ceiling.
Do you think it’s important that Hillary Clinton apologized during her concession speech? With it being the first time in history that someone has done such a thing, will her apology pave the way for future candidates’ concession speeches?
[Featured Image by a katz/Shutterstock]