Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton did not rule out questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 election in an interview published Monday.
"As more and more information comes out about the depth of Russia's interference in the election, do you think, at some point, that it would be legitimate to challenge the legitimacy of the election?" NPR's Terry Gross asked Clinton in a wide-ranging interview.
"I don't know if there's any legal constitutional way to do that. I think you can raise questions," Clinton responded.
Clinton added that her condemnation of Russian interference is not based on her losing the election.
"Let me just put it this way, if I had lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College and in my first day as president the intelligence community came to me and said, 'The Russians influenced the election,' I would've never stood for it," she said.
"Even though it might've advantaged me, I would've said, 'We've got to get to the bottom of this.' I would've set up an independent commission with subpoena power and everything else," Clinton added.
Gross then repeated her question, asking whether Clinton would rule out questioning the legitimacy of the election.
"Would you completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election if we learn that the Russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now?" Gross asked.
"No. I would not. I would say—" Clinton began.
"You're not going to rule it out," Gross interjected.
"No, I woudn't rule that out," Clinton said.
Clinton argued there are no means to challenge the results even if they should be challenged.
"There are scholars, academics, who have arguments that it would be, but I don't think they're on strong ground," Clinton said.
Clinton mentioned Kenya's recent Supreme Court ruling that overturned the country's presidential election results and added, "We have no such provision in our country. And usually we don't need it."
Clinton finished her answer by arguing that the United States should "abolish" its Electoral College system.
Throughout the 2016 campaign, Clinton criticized President Donald Trump for questioning the legitimacy of the election.
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