Hillary Clinton Rebukes Donna Brazile’s ‘Rigged’ Charge: ‘That Just Wasn’t the Case’

While her husband was uptown in Harlem hanging with Conan O’Brien, Hillary Clinton was in Rockefeller Center marking the one year anniversary since she lost the presidential election to Donald Trump with Seth Meyers.

Before she sat down for her interview, Clinton joined Meyers’ writers for a very special edition of “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell.” For instance, when Meyers noted that Chardonnay sales were on the rise, Clinton joked, "And they said I wouldn't be able to create jobs."

“Happy unhappy anniversary,” Meyers said after a break. “I’m so happy you’re here, but I wish you were elsewhere,” he added, referring to the alternative reality in which she was celebrating one year as the first female president.

But at least Clinton had something to be “hopeful” about after this week’s election victories for Democrats across the country. “I think the fever is finally breaking,” she said. “I think that Americans, as we saw last night, are saying, ‘You know what? We really like our health care, we don't like hatred and bigotry, and we don't want to get shot wherever we go in our country.’ So I think there is a growing awareness that the only way to reverse this is actually to go out and vote, and vote for people who have your values and will stand up and fight for them.”

Clinton also responded to the controversial comments made by former interim DNC chair Donna Brazile, who has implied that the party rigged the primary against Bernie Sanders.

In her new book, Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House, Brazile writes, “I had promised Bernie when I took the helm of the Democratic National Committee after the convention that I would get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton’s team had rigged the nomination process,” adding later, “By September 7, the day I called Bernie, I had found my proof and it broke my heart.”

“I didn't know what she was referring to,” she said. “Because as has now come out, that just wasn't the case.” At the same time, she praised current DNC chair Tom Perez for keeping his eye on the ball and helping Democratic candidates across the finish line this past week.

Finally, Clinton lamented the degradation of the State Department under the Trump administration. “He's just flying blind,” she said. “And you know, he doesn't listen to people. He undercut his own secretary of state about diplomacy on the North Korea problem. So I think it weakens us. I think it gives a lot of aid and comfort to these leaders of countries that are trying to, frankly, take advantage of us during this time when we don't seem to have a particular strategic understanding of our role in the world.”