Hugging and kissing are rarely innocent acts in a gangster movie. The Godfather puts his arms around you not always in loving embrace, but as a way of drawing you close and making you an offer you can’t refuse. The warm kiss on the cheek might also be a farewell gesture, a way of saying goodbye before you sleep with the fishes. The same principle works in politics, where praise isn’t meant kindly—instead, it carries an ominous message.

In a speech in Reno yesterday attacking Donald Trump as a racist with ties to the alt-right, Hillary Clinton was amazingly gracious when discussing Republicans who did not support Trump. Like President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, Clinton was careful to distinguish between mainstream Republicans and Trump, portraying the nominee as an aberration.

Many analysts took Clinton’s pitch at face value. In The New York Times, Matt Flegenheimer wrote, “Mrs. Clinton’s pitch seemed aimed largely at moderate Republicans and other voters who have watched Mr. Trump’s attempts in recent days to soften his image.” This analysis isn’t wrong, but it is incomplete. Clinton not only tried to convince Republicans that Trump doesn’t stand with them, but also implicitly warned them of dire consequences if they continue to back him.



According to her prepared remarks, Clinton said:

This is a moment of reckoning for every Republican dismayed that the Party of Lincoln has become the Party of Trump. It’s a moment of reckoning for all of us who love our country and believe that America is better than this. Twenty years ago, when Bob Dole accepted the Republican nomination, he pointed to the exits and told any racists in the party to get out. The week after 9/11, George W. Bush went to a mosque and declared for everyone to hear that Muslims “love America just as much as I do.” In 2008, John McCain told his own supporters they were wrong about the man he was trying to defeat. Senator McCain made sure they knew—Barack Obama is an American citizen and “a decent person.” We need that kind of leadership again. Every day, more Americans are standing up and saying “enough is enough”—including a lot of Republicans. I’m honored to have their support.

Earlier in the speech, Clinton also noted that Trump’s campaign manager Steve Bannon “railed against Paul Ryan for, quote ‘rubbing his social-justice Catholicism in my nose every second.’”