Hillary Clinton said she gets overwhelmed a "dozen times a day" during a speech Monday at Georgetown University that took implicit shots at the Trump administration.
Clinton was on hand to to present human rights awards to Islamic State captive Nadia Murad, Rohingya advocate for peace in Myanma Wai Wai Nu, and BBC international correspondent Lyce Doucet for her war reporting.
Praising Doucet's reporting on the experiences of women and children in conflict zones, Clinton said her stories were "absolutely essential."
Clinton drew applause as she said no one should be allowed to push others into living in an "alternative reality," a seeming dig at her 2016 election opponent, President Donald Trump.
"I still believe in truth, evidence, facts," Clinton said. "There is no such thing as alternative reality, and we have to make sure that we don't try to live in it or let anybody else push us to live in it either."
Clinton called the work of journalists crucial when "expertise, truth and facts are under siege."
"Now, it's easy to be overwhelmed by all that's going on ... on the world stage and here at home," she said. "I know that. I get overwhelmed at least a dozen times a day."
Clinton said she had spent the last year traveling the country and meeting people at book signings and other events, and she said she was often asked what people can do.
"Advancing the rights, opportunities and full participation of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st century," Clinton said. "I intend to keep fighting to pursue this agenda and to remain on the front lines of democracy."