This is the September 3, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
“When we started, there was not even a term for sexual harassment. It was just called life.”
— Gloria Steinem
She was a warrior for women her entire life.
At 88, when the great Gloria Steinem joined “Know Your Value” for a conversation at the second annual 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi — alongside Hillary Clinton, Billie Jean King, and the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska — she reminded us about a softer power.
Laughter, she told us, is the only emotion that cannot be forced. You can make someone afraid, but you cannot make them laugh.
Laughter, she said, is “a proof of freedom, a proof of joy.”
Only Gloria could turn a laughing audience into a lesson of liberation!
Since the 1960s, she fought for women’s rights in nearly every arena. She co-founded Ms. magazine when women couldn’t even open a credit card without a man’s signature. She redefined what a woman in journalism could be, proving that our voices belonged in serious conversation.
Gloria is an icon for women everywhere. That night in Abu Dhabi, we celebrated her with our Lifetime Achievement Award, because every woman in that room was standing on ground she cleared.
We were ALL better for knowing her.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined Jonathan Lemire on “Morning Joe” today to reflect on Steinem’s influence and to remember her as a friend.
JL: What are your thoughts on Gloria Steinem’s life and legacy?
HC: I am really sad personally, but also very grateful for the life she led. She was brilliant, beautiful, funny, so connected to the world — and she did it all with such grace. It’s a personal loss, but also a reminder about the difference one person can make who lives a purposeful life.
JL: The New York Times described her impact as reaching “from the boardroom to the courtroom to the bedroom.” What did that look like?
HC: She was not on the Supreme Court, but Roe v. Wade was part of her advocacy. She wasn’t in Congress, but Title IX was part of what she fought for. She wasn’t at NASA, but Sally Ride becoming the first American woman astronaut was part of what she stood for. Her understanding of the need to create opportunities for women where they had not existed before drove her until the very end.
“In my heart, I think a woman has two choices. Either she’s a feminist or a masochist.”
Gloria Steinem, 2001
JL: There has been real pushback to that progress. Are you troubled by where we are right now?
HC: I am both troubled and hopeful. Women are being targeted with viral misogyny online, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is purging women who served decades with great distinction from the military.
But the spark of equality and opportunity that is at the root of the American Dream is not going to die because Donald Trump is trying to dig a grave to put it in under his new ballroom. Gloria never held a position in elected or public life, but she was very influential because she never quit on making it clear that we had to live up to our values. Her example is going to serve as a real spur.
JL: What are your personal memories of her?
HC: I bought my first pair of aviator sunglasses because I saw her wearing them. She campaigned for me when I ran for office. We would talk about issues and strategize.
I last saw her earlier this year in her living room, where she would gather people to keep talking about the changes we would need. It was never heavy. It always had the element of light and hope — because that’s who she was. She brought out the best in you.
JL: How will you remember her?
HC: I’m going to miss her. But she’s going to live on — in the hearts and minds of people who really believe that all people, as Gloria would say, are created equal. And we have work to do.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”
The post Hillary Clinton: Gloria Steinem was brilliant, beautiful, funny, so connected to the world — and she did it all with such grace appeared first on MS NOW.
