President Donald Trump ridiculed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for complaining again that Russian President Vladimir Putin and FBI Director James Comey contributed to her election loss.
“FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!” Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to Comey’s public statement exonerating Clinton in her private email scandal.
Clinton complained, however, that Comey’s October statement admitting that the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton was not complete hurt her image with the American people.
“I was on the way to winning until the combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off,” she said during an interview at a Women for Women International Event.
Trump called Clinton’s statement “phony,” reminding his followers that Clinton failed miserably on her own.
“The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election,” he wrote. “Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?”
Clinton acknowledged during the event that Trump might challenge her on Twitter but said she would happily serve as a distraction for the president.
“You know, better that than interfering in foreign affairs. If he wants to tweet about me, I’m happy to be the, you know, the diversion, because we’ve got lots of other things to worry about,” she said.
Clinton also blamed ongoing misogyny in the United States for playing a role in the election.
“I do think it played a role,” she said. “I think other things did, as well.”