The Guardian published an interview with Hillary Clinton last week that either signaled her intention to pursue the Democratic presidential nomination once again or, as critics would have it, secure a columnist job at Breitbart.com.

“I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame” of right-wing populism, the former secretary of state told the British newspaper. “I admire the very generous and compassionate approaches that were taken particularly by leaders like Angela Merkel, but I think it is fair to say Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message—‘we are not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support’—because if we don’t deal with the migration issue it will continue to roil the body politic.”

Cue outrage. A “sickening capitulation,” fumed Rolling Stone’s Jamil Smith. “A death sentence for millions and millions of people,” wrote Osita Nwanevu of The New Yorker. Clinton’s words “drew criticism and a dose of surprise from an array of scholars, pro-immigration advocates and pundits on both the left and right,” reported The New York Times. “So perplexed by the comments” were the great and the good, the Times continued, “that they wondered aloud whether Mrs. Clinton had perhaps misspoken.”