Is Hillary Clinton Finally ‘Jumping the Shark’ Into Irrelevance?

In 1977, the “Happy Days” television sitcom had an episode in which the popular character Fonzie jumped over a shark while water-skiing. For many fans, the stunt came to symbolize a desperation to be noticed after one exhausts all creative and original thought. Since then, “jumping the shark” has been used as a pejorative to describe someone who appears desperate for attention or utters something ridiculous or flat-out untrue.

In the world of politics, we can now ask: Is Hillary Clinton “jumping the shark” into irrelevance?

No doubt many Americans believe that Clinton, twice a failed presidential candidate, still harbors red-hot anger and hatred regarding the 2016 election that she lost to Donald Trump. Her defeat by a man that many Democrats consider to be the “orange-haired clown,” was  embarrassing for her, perhaps one of the most humiliating election results in recent U.S. politics.

Of course, many who think that way are Republicans, conservatives, or perhaps independents. But what about all those other Americans, who are open to either giving Clinton the benefit of the doubt or who still deeply admire her? At what point will she lose most of them?

Clinton recently went after both Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in such an over-the-top way that it made some of us wonder whether shark-jumping is going to be her chosen hobby for the foreseeable future.

First, regarding Trump, Clinton said during a recent interview with the Financial Times: “Look, if Trump wins, which I do not believe will happen — let me just quickly say that — if, in some scenario, that were to happen, it would be the end of democracy in the United States.”

Really? The “end of democracy in the United States.” 

Now, we all understand how bitter Clinton must be and how much she despises Trump, but if he did win the White House in 2024, wouldn’t that represent “democracy in action”? The American people choose their president via their vote and the electors representing them. You know, the way they did seven years ago when they chose Trump over Clinton. Or, when they chose Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries of 2008.

Isn’t that process the personification of “democracy”? 

Next, we have Clinton going after DeSantis and the state of Florida, via this tweet: “Ron DeSantis’s ultra-MAGA Florida isn’t safe for people of color, LGBTQ+ people, or even multi-billion dollar corporations.”

Again, I ask, really? OutKick founder Clay Travis almost immediately tweeted back: “This is really the attack left wingers are going with? That Florida, which has gained over a million new residents since Ron DeSantis became governor, isn’t safe for minorities or gay people? Does anyone actually believe this? The lies just keep getting crazier.”

And Mark Hemingway at Real Clear Investigations tweeted back: “No one but completely deluded ideologues believe this, and even they know in their hearts it’s just a fake narrative.”

Maybe that’s why Clinton turned off replies to her tweet. She didn’t want to hear from Democrats who might ask, “Are you serious? Our nation is being battered by multiple life-crushing issues and this is what you want to whine about?”

To that point, since when did “billion-dollar corporations” become an aggrieved demographic to the left? They may be such to the Clinton and Biden families, whose campaigns have vacuumed millions out of such companies and the billionaires who run them, but does Clinton truly believe that her remark is a winning campaign line to roll out to working-class Americans, some of whom are struggling to survive?

At a certain point, we all “age out,” whether it’s from a sporting career, professional career, creative career — even a political career. It’s the natural progression of modern life. 

Most of us gracefully acknowledge this reality. A relative few who are addicted to the limelight refuse to do so; they purposely go on, seeking more notoriety, and sometimes embarrass themselves on the athletic field, or when they screech out off-key songs, or make pandering political statements that cause even some supporters to scratch their heads.

At 75, Hillary Clinton is not old in many respects. She is five years younger than President Biden and a year younger than Trump — but she’s seasoned in politics, to be sure. In various iterations, she has been on the political stage for more than four decades. Some might say she’s among the politicians who have reached an “expiration date” with the American people but refuse to acknowledge it.

Many Democrats have turned their eyes toward young, vibrant voices such as Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Clinton may feel she has to make outlandish comments to remain relevant. But at a certain point, people tune out preposterous comments and begin to ignore those who make them.  

If you keep “jumping the shark,” sooner or later it will win and pull you beneath the surface, into obscurity and irrelevance. It’d be much better to exit the waters on your own terms and timing.

Douglas MacKinnon served in the White House as a writer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and afterward in a joint command at the Pentagon.