Washington (CNN) Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that if there isn't a "very big rejection" of President Donald Trump's "authoritarian tendencies" in the midterm elections, she's worried about what an unchecked Trump could do to the government.

Clinton told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show" that she is worried about those tendencies.

The "authoritarian tendencies that we have seen at work in this administration with this President, left unchecked, could very well result in the erosion of our institutions to an extent that we've never imagined possible here," Clinton said.

And for Clinton, the possibility of Trump with no true congressional check only heightens the importance of the elections in November.

"I think you will only see more of these attacks on our institutions, on our norms, on the rule of law that could do lasting damage," Clinton said.

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