Bill Clinton decries Trump-era 'tribalism' and 'nationalism'

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Former president Bill Clinton lamented the level of "tribalism" in America today as well as "people in power" who practice the politics of division, in an opinion column for The New York Times Monday.

"All too often, tribalism based on race, religion, sexual identity and place of birth has replaced inclusive nationalism, in which you can be proud of your tribe and still embrace the larger American community," Clinton wrote. "And too often resentment conquers reason, anger blinds us to answers and sanctimony passes for authenticity."

The former president said those trends are made worse by social media and news media outlets frantically fighting for attention. He said there are "resolute efforts to abolish the line between fact and fiction" and that when "trust vanishes and knowledge is devalued as an establishment defense of the status quo, anything can happen."

Clinton said the only people who benefit from such an environment are those on top, "the least responsible members of the political media" and "the enemies of democracy, who feed the discord and hope that Americans will finally concede that informed self-government no longer works — and perhaps is no longer even possible — in the modern world."

Although Clinton never mentioned President Trump by name, he did say that there are "too many people in power across the world" who promote conflict through politics of subtraction and division.