For years, Democrats slammed former President Donald Trump for suggesting that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should be locked up.

That condemnation rang hollow this week after Clinton was caught smiling as Democrats said the same of Trump. 

Clinton nods along while convention delegates chant

According to the Daily Mail, the incident occurred on Monday evening as Mrs. Clinton addressed delegates at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago.

Referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, the former secretary of state said, "As a prosecutor, Kamala locked up murderers and drug traffickers. She will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety."

"Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial," she continued. "When he woke up, he'd made his own kind of history: the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions."

As the DNC crowd broke into "lock him up" chants, Hillary Clinton stood at the podium silently, smiling and nodding. https://t.co/gJeunLhspu pic.twitter.com/9XDEbP7lGh

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 20, 2024

At that point, audience members broke into hearty chants of "Lock him up!" Video footage showed that Clinton did nothing to discourage the chanting and appeared to enjoy it.

Clinton recalls failed 2016 White House campaign

Later, Clinton spoke of her own failed presidential run in 2016, stating, "It was the honor of my life to accept our party's nomination for president."

"Nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams," the one-time candidate went on to recall.

"Afterward, we refused to give up on America. Millions marched. Many ran for office. We kept our eyes on the future. Well, my friends, the future is here," she asserted.

Clinton's smiling reaction to calls for Trump to be locked up was a far cry from the way Democrats responded in 2016 when Republicans were demanding that she be incarcerated.

Democrats excoriated Republicans for wanting to "lock up" Clinton

New York Times political correspondent Annie Karni quoted then Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken as saying that the "Lock her up!" chants were reminiscent of a "banana republic."

Meanwhile, scholar Norm Ornstein told the BBC after the 2016 Republican National Convention (RNC), "You expect a tough rhetoric against the opposition."

"You don't expect a convention hall that has its major theme as not what your nominee will do but an enormous level of bile towards the other opponent," he continued before adding, "It makes absurd the notion you're trying to unite the government and not divide it."