Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said the 2016 campaign was the first “reality TV campaign,” bringing its own unique set of challenges.
“My opponent was the first reality TV candidate, and I was, for better or worse, the candidate of reality,” Mrs. Clinton said in an interview that aired Wednesday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”
She said that running after a two-term president of the same party also brought its challenges in the campaign, adding it was hard to argue she was an agent of change when she supported much of former President Barack Obama’s agenda.
“If you are both the candidate defending a lot of the areas of agreement, but also putting forth an agenda for change, which is what I tried to do, it is often difficult to get the second part of that message through,” Mrs. Clinton explained.
She said that “historical headwind” was going against her campaign as well, adding that her own lengthy career in politics never became a focus of the campaign.
“And I think it was a shortcoming of the campaign that the work that I’ve done my entire life, the passion I feel for helping people, the record that I have of doing just that, never really could break through,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Mrs. Clinton also commented on the ongoing investigation into Russia’s role in the election saying she believes there’s more to come out about everything that happened.
“I don’t think the tech companies have come clean, yet, about everything they know about what happened on their watch,” she said.
“But I think we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t know more about the role that the tech companies played, and then try to figure out how we’re going to handle it,” Mrs. Clinton added.
Social media companies such as Facebook have testified on Capitol Hill that Russian-backed ads appeared on their outlets during the campaign. They have said they’re looking into the extent of what happened and how to prevent similar instances in the future.
Mrs. Clinton detailed her account of the 2016 race in her book “What Happened.” She has been criticized for blaming outside factors, including former FBI Director James B. Comey, for her historic loss.
She said Mr. Comey, who she says she hasn’t spoken to in 25 years, is both “villain” and “martyr.”
“One, I think that he violated protocol as the director of the FBI. He went outside the chain of command. He was taking unprecedented actions both in July and in October. I do not to this day understand everything that motivated him to do so,” Mrs. Clinton explained.
“At the same time, I think he was not fired for that. I think he was fired because he refused requests to stop the Russia investigation,” she said.
The interview with the conservative host ended on a positive note, with Mrs. Clinton saying, “Well you know, Hugh, I’m really enjoying this. I can go for a few more minutes, if you want to.”
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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