Former Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman Donna Brazile tweeted Friday that she never said the 2016 presidential primary was "rigged" in favor of Hillary Clinton, despite her own report that the Clinton campaign's control of the DNC compromised the fairness of the nomination process.
Politico Magazine on Thursday published an excerpt from Brazile's upcoming book in which she describes various ways the Clinton campaign exercised control over the DNC before and during the primary, which Clinton ultimately won over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). Brazile writes that she had resolved to "get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton's team had rigged the nomination process," and that she eventually found evidence they had.
"By September 7, the day I called Bernie, I had found my proof and it broke my heart," Brazile writes.
Brazile clearly states that the primary was not fair because of Clinton's control of the DNC.
"If the fight had been fair, one campaign would not have control of the party before the voters had decided which one they wanted to lead," Brazile writes. "This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party's integrity."
Many Democrats reacted by concurring with Brazile's judgments in the piece, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), who said it provided conclusive evidence that the primary was "rigged."
But when President Donald Trump tweeted about the story and said Clinton was "crooked," Brazile seemingly reversed her position.
Today’s lesson: Being quoted by Donald Trump means being MIS-quoted by Donald Trump. Stop trolling me. #NeverSaidHillaryRiggedElection
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) November 3, 2017
Trump looks for a daily excuse to distract from his job. No, the primary system wasn’t rigged! States control primary ballots. https://t.co/3vSwG6FY0o
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) November 3, 2017
Brazile's tweets were a response to Trump's own tweeting about her accusations and the fact that Democrats were affirming that the primary was unfair.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926415703476928512
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926417546038923264
Trump calls Warren "Pocahontas" pejoratively because of a controversy about her claiming Native American heritage.
Brazile describes in her book that the Hillary Victory Fund, the Clinton campaign's joint fundraising vehicle with the DNC, was under Clinton's control before she was nominated, even though much of that money was supposed to go to the eventual nominee and state races.
"That victory fund was supposed to be for whoever was the nominee, and the state party races," Brazile remembers saying after learning about the system. "You're telling me that Hillary has been controlling it since before she got the nomination?"