Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Wednesday the Democratic National Committee gave her “nothing” after she clinched the nomination.
“I set up my campaign and we have our own data operation. I get the nomination. So I’m now the nominee for the Democratic Party. I inherit nothing from the Democratic Party. I mean, it was bankrupt,” she said at the Code Conference in California.
“I had to inject money into it to keep it going.”
But Mrs. Clinton said that she felt the influence of Russia was a major factor, especially on social media, and that fake posts were a huge influence on people’s vote.
“The other side was using content that was just flat out false, and delivering it in a very personalized way, both above the radar screen and below,” Mrs. Clinton said. “That really influenced the information that people were relying on. And there have been some studies since the election. The vast majority of the news items posted were fake. They were connected to the bots that were just out of control.”
When asked if she felt President Trump knew about the Russian influence and the fake posts, she said yes.
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“Yes, I’m leaning Trump,” she said. “I think it’s pretty hard not to.”
Mrs. Clinton also said that while her campaign tried to grapple with what was happening, most people felt that her victory was inevitable so the Russia issue could be passed off until after the election.
“I believe that what was happening to me was unprecedented,” she said. “I also think I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win. I never believed that. I always believed it was going to be a close election because our elections are always close.”
Mrs. Clinton also commented on Mr. Trump’s odd tweet that used the word “covfefe,” without any context or explanation.
“I thought it was a hidden message to the Russians,” she joked.
She also reacted to press secretary Sean Spicer who said that “a small group of people” knew what the president meant.
“The small group classification,” she said jokingly. “You don’t have enough classification to know what covfefe means.”
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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