Clinton Comments On Hillary During Appearance On MSNBC

Former President Bill Clinton offered a sharp critique of the media’s role in the outcome of the 2016 presidential election during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Reflecting on his wife Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump, Clinton pointed a finger squarely at the “mainstream media” for what he described as an overblown focus on Hillary’s emails and a consequential shift in public perception.

Clinton argued that the email controversy, which dominated headlines during the campaign, was framed unfairly. “The mainstream media told the American people repeatedly that the biggest issue was Hillary’s emails,” he said.

This narrative, according to Clinton, overshadowed substantive policy discussions and created a false equivalency between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Even the Trump administration’s State Department later found no evidence that she sent or received classified information on her personal email server.

Adding to the controversy, Clinton highlighted how the rules surrounding email use for government officials were only updated after Hillary left her role as Secretary of State. Yet, the public discourse, he said, treated her actions as if they were outright criminal.

This perception was compounded when former FBI Director James Comey held a press conference in July 2016 to announce that no charges would be filed but still described Clinton’s handling of the emails as “extremely careless.”

Clinton suggested that Comey’s comments were an attempt to appear balanced, a practice he believes unfairly tilted the scales. “I think they did it because they thought they had to mention something bad about her if they said something bad about Trump,” Clinton stated.

The former president’s remarks reflect lingering frustration over the 2016 election and underscore the complex interplay between media narratives and public perception.

With Hillary Clinton’s emails dominating the spotlight at the time, the broader political landscape was arguably sidelined—a dynamic that Clinton believes had lasting consequences.