A local newspaper recorded an impromptu talk by President Bill Clinton at the Village Bookstore, in Pleasantville, N.Y.,where he credited the FBI with Hillary Clinton’s loss, and credited Donald Trump with an ability to win votes from “angry, white men.”
Clinton was buying a few books Dec. 10 at the bookstore when other customers began asking questions. The Bedford Record-Review, a weekly newspaper which covers the towns of Bedford and Pound Ridge, wrote up the encounter for Friday’s edition.
“James Comey cost her the election,’ Clinton told one shopper who asked for the main causes of his wife’s defeat.
The former president said his wife was up seven points in the national polls before Comey wrote a letter to Congress announcing that the bureau had new information that warranted giving the committee notice. The result of Comey’s letter so close to Election Day was to damage the former first lady’s candidacy and the credibility of the FBI, Clinton said.
“Is Trump smart?” another man asked. “He doesn’t know much. One thing he does know is how to get angry, white men to vote for him,” Mr. Clinton replied.
Clinton, who lives in nearby Chappaqua, fielded questioned for 30 minutes flanked by his lone Secret Service agent. The newspaper reported:
A woman asked if her 6-year-old son, a Hillary supporter, could pose for a photo. The boy was very shy, and buried his chin in his coat. The two-term president coaxed the child closer and put his arms around him for the photo. “When he came down for breakfast on Election Day, I told him who won. He said he wanted to go back to sleep for four years,” his mother relayed. “No, we can’t go to sleep, we need to stay active,” Mr. Clinton urged.
The man from Hope, Arkansas, said that the day after the election, Trump called him and was very cordial. The call reminded him of times 15 years ago, when the Clintons and the Trumps would get together socially, Clinton added.
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