Hillary Clinton has taken a swipe at the President of the United States, calling him ‘unqualified’ in an interview to promote her new book.
The former Democratic presidential candidate opened up about how she felt on losing out to Trump in the 2016 election – recalling in feeling completely and totally depleted’ after delivering her famous concession speech on November 9.
Clinton, 69, told Stylist magazine of her guilt at losing out to Trump, saying: ‘I have a great sense of responsibility, for not winning, for letting people down.
‘Even more so when you consider who my opponent was. If I had run against someone whom I disagreed with politically, but believed was up to the job, of course I would have been disappointed.
Hillary Clinton’s book, What Happened, aims to give her perspective on the Presidential election result in a bid to change public perceptions of her
‘But being in a position where I ended up losing to someone who I don’t think is qualified or temperamentally ready to be president was a very deep personal regret.’
And in her book she recalls the moment she left the New Yorker Hotel in midtown Manhattan, writing: ‘All I wanted to do was get inside, change into comfy clothes, and maybe not ever answer the phone ever again.’
The former Secretary of State also spoke of the ‘mistakes’ during the campaign trail, including the ‘dumb’ FBI email scandal – and her regret that the world did not pay more attention to the UK’s June 2016 Brexit referendum result.
The full interview appears in this week’s issue of Stylist, out Tuesday 10th October 2017
‘I think Brexit was a bigger alarm than we understood here in the United States,’ she said. ‘I think the people would then listen to me.’
Clinton’s book, What Happened, aims to give her perspective on the Presidential election result and change public perceptions of her.
And she wasted no time in hitting back at criticism she received during the campaign trail, saying: ‘Whenever I’ve had a job I get high ratings, people think I do a good job.
‘But I think a lot of the perception of me, the reality of me, has gotten lost because of all the consistent attacks.’
She added: ‘To some extent, [the book] is to cut through all of that, so people will judge me for what I am and what I’ve done. I’ve lived a really active, involved life and I’d like to be judged on the merits of that as opposed to the, you know, political hit job.’
The former First Lady also opened up about how she has managed to remain ‘resilient’ in the face of online abuse – and her hopes that young girls will be able to follow her example.
Clinton on the campaign trail in June 2016. The former Secretary of State has spoken of the ‘mistakes’ she made, including the ‘dumb’ FBI email scandal
Clinton’s emotional concession speech. In her new book she recalls the moment she left the New Yorker Hotel in midtown Manhattan, writing: ‘All I wanted to do was get inside, change into comfy clothes, and maybe not ever answer the phone ever again’
‘If you put your head up on Twitter or YouTube and say something, you’re going to engender this nasty response,’ Clinton said.
‘I want to give confidence and be, maybe, an example of resilience in the face of loss. Because we all have losses and disappointments.’
She also offered her thoughts on how leaders can tackle feelings of uncertainty in the current political climate, saying: ‘It requires leadership from public officials, the private sector, advocacy groups and charities.
‘So there’s a role, there’s something for everybody to do. I’m going to be doing my part. And not to get overwhelmed and discouraged because the problems are so big.
‘It’s going to take consistent effort across every country for many years to deal with these very difficult times we face.’
The full interview appears in this week’s issue of Stylist, out Tuesday 10th October 2017