Pantsuit Nation

Pantsuit Nation is a private Facebook group and Twitter hashtag used to rally camaraderie among Hillary Clinton supporters during her 2016 presidential campaign. Though the group is not affiliated with a political party, its symbol—the pantsuit—was used as a metonym for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign similar to how the color red was used for the campaign of her opponent, Donald Trump. CNN wrote about how the invitation-only group was used for members to show devotion to the Clinton campaign in an arena private from the rest of Facebook. A private citizen of Maine started the group after the last presidential debate of the season after a conversation about Clinton's choice of business wear. The founder considered Clinton and her pantsuit to both be emblematic of the historic effort towards equal rights for women. The group's members shared stories of their support for Clinton within families and communities that supported other candidates, and stories of ancestors who fought for civil rights and relatives who became first-time voters. Many posts to the group contain fan art from the campaign, including its logos and slogans on clothes, signs, bodies, and food.^[1] On election day, the campaign's digital manager thanked the group for its support. Members posted pictures of themselves wearing pantsuits while voting.^[2] The campaign had planned to use the group as part of its grassroots organizing effort if Clinton won the election.^[3] When she did not, she thanked the group of supporters in her concession speech and encouraged them to voice their opinions publicly, outside the secret group.^[4] At the time of the election, the group had 2.9 million members^[5] and had raised US$170,000 for the Clinton campaign.^[6][7]

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