Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Democrats’ sweeping midterm victories had lifted a “poisonous cloud” that had hung over the country for a decade, expressing optimism about the party’s return to power.

“I feel it’s been a long time coming, but it’s as though the blue wave has washed away the poisonous cloud that we’ve been living under for 10 years,” Clinton said. “And we can finally get back to trying our best to form that more perfect union by fighting back.”

Clinton made the remarks while moderating a discussion with MS NOW host Rachel Maddow at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York City during an event promoting Maddow’s new book, “Department of Fate.”

The former Democratic presidential nominee said the election results exceeded her expectations and praised the incoming class of Democratic lawmakers and state officials.

“They came in with the intention of fighting back and to try to right the ship of state,” Clinton said.

She pointed to government corruption and the cost of living as major voter concerns, arguing that Democratic candidates successfully linked rising household expenses to decisions made by political leaders.

The conversation also turned to concerns about potential interference with certifying election results and seating newly elected lawmakers, including in Mississippi, where Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s closely contested re-election race against Democrat Scott Colom remains unresolved.

Asked by Maddow whether she worried about challenges to certification, Clinton said she was “much less” concerned because of the scale of Democrats’ victories and the work of election officials, organizers and attorneys.

Clinton credited election workers and officials from both parties with resisting pressure to alter election outcomes, drawing parallels to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

“There were a lot of brave people, both Republicans and Democrats, starting in the 2020 election, who stood up to this effort to intimidate and bully them into changing votes, finding votes, pretending that somebody else won as opposed to who actually had,” Clinton said.

Despite her buoyancy, Clinton cautioned that Democrats must now deliver results “to make good things happen, both in Washington and at the state level.” She also acknowledged what she called the “immeasurable damage” the Trump administration had inflicted on the United States’ standing abroad, but said Democrats’ sweeping wins offered renewed hope that the country could “repair the damage and rejoin with our allies.”

Beyond the midterms, Clinton and Maddow discussed the Justice Department’s history, threats to civil rights, the Trump administration’s immigration policies and proposals to safeguard the DOJ’s independence from presidential interference.

The interview, including a deeper look at Maddow’s new book, “Department of Fate,” will air Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on MS NOW.

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