Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered insight into why she thinks she lost the 2016 election, saying that it had to do with her being a woman who wasn’t “perfect.”
The comments from Clinton came in an interview with The New York Times that was published on Saturday.
“They left me because they just couldn’t take a risk on me because, as a woman, I’m supposed to be perfect,” Clinton said. “They were willing to take a risk on [former President Trump] — who had a long list of, let’s call them flaws, to illustrate his imperfection — because he was a man, and they could envision a man as president and commander in chief.”
Clinton went on to criticize members of her own party, saying they have a long-term failure in not finalizing protections for abortion rights.
She said that Democrats did not fully understand the power of the anti-abortion movement, leaving most of them “taken by surprise” when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“We didn’t take it seriously, and we didn’t understand the threat,” Clinton said. “Most Democrats, most Americans, did not realize we are in an existential struggle for the future of this country.”
As for the upcoming election, Clinton shared some of her thoughts earlier this year, telling MSNBC that President Joe Biden’s age was a legitimate concern.
“I talked to people in the White House all the time, and you know, they know it’s an issue, but as I like to say, ‘look, it’s a legitimate issue,’” Clinton said. “It’s a legitimate issue for [ex-President Donald] Trump, who’s only three years younger, right? So it’s an issue.”’
She went on to say that for Biden to win the upcoming election, he has to find a way to relate to younger voters, something polls show he has struggled with.
“I think Biden also should lean into the fact that he’s experienced, and that experience is not just in the political arena,” she said. “It’s like, the stuff of, you know, human experience, character, wisdom.”