REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Appearing Tuesday at the annual Women for Women luncheon in New York City, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took personal responsibility for her loss in the 2016 election while also pinning blame on FBI Director James Comey and “Russian WikiLeaks.” Asked by interviewer Christiane Amanpour whether she’s accepted some responsibility for failing to counter Donald Trump’s “successful message,” Clinton said: “Of course. I take absolutely personal responsibility. I was the candidate. I was the person who was on the ballot.” Shortly thereafter, however, she told the audience, “I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28th and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off. And the evidence for that intervening event is, I think, compelling, persuasive.” Clinton later added a jab at Trump’s Achille’s heel: his popular-vote tally. “I did win more than 3 million votes more than my opponent,” she said.