Two-time failed presidential candidate Hilary Clinton admitted in a "Hugh Hewitt Show" interview that she takes "responsibility" for her campaign attacking New York Times reporters over their coverage of the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server.
Clinton discussed in the interview, released Wednesday, various challenges she faced on the campaign trail last year.
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said Clinton's staff was very protective of her during the campaign and mentioned how he regretted that her staff wouldn't let her on his show. He said they could have discussed an array of pertinent issues ranging from the nuclear triad to Burma and the Rohingya people.
He noted a Washington Post piece from April that reported her team went to "beatdown with clubs" New York Times reporters Michael Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo when they wrote a piece in July 2015 about her use, while serving as secretary of state, of a private email server.
"They really just shattered those guys’ reputations, forced them backwards, and unapologetically so," Hewitt said. "Did they protect you too much? And did they hit back too hard at legitimate critics and questions?"
"Well, let me answer that this way, Hugh. I think, as I say about the book, I did think that I had to be careful in public, and probably I did have my guard up too much. You know, those days are over. I am trying to be as candid and open as I can be," Clinton responded.
She remarked on the importance of her being candid about what happened on the campaign trail and said she wants to be part of the debate if Americans can have "reason-based discussions" about the issues again.
"So I will take responsibility, because clearly, it is challenging when the press–and not just the press on the right, but the press in general–decide that my emails are the most important story of the campaign," Clinton said. "And that clearly was just pounded day after day after day. And, you know, I take responsibility for the mistakes I made, but it was ... a pretty overblown scandal as far as scandals go."
Hewitt also asked Clinton during the interview if she made an effort to understand why voters supported then-candidate Donald Trump.
"Did you ever listen to Rush or Mark Levin or my Salem colleagues, Prager, Medved, Gallagher, me to try and figure out what our audience was thinking and talking about?" Hewitt asked.
Clinton said she had listened to some in the past, explaining that she didn't want to lump Hewitt in with some of the other conservative talk radio hosts. Unlike some of the others, she believes he is a "thoughtful person."
Clinton then claimed she did understand some of the anger and resentment in the country.
"I understand the anger. I understand the resentment. I understand the very strong feelings that a lot of people in our country have about everything from the economy to race to immigration to national defense," Clinton said. "But, and this is probably another one of my shortcomings, you know, I’ve never thought anger was a good strategy for actually getting things done."
"So I’m a little allergic to the kind of bombast and craziness that I sometimes hear from others, because I think it has really undermined our ability to work together across partisan lines," Clinton added. "I mean, the things that were said about me, the conspiracies that were promoted about me, were just incredibly shocking."