Hillary Clinton reportedly said ‘that was my last race’ after losing election
As Hillary Clinton was reviewing a draft of her concession speech on the night of the 2016 election, she reportedly said her stunning loss to Donald Trump was her “last race.”
That’s according to “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign,” a new book by Sidewire’s Jonathan Allen and the Hill’s Amie Parnes. The book described the scene in detail.
“Look, I really just want to concede gracefully, wish him the best, thank everybody, and get off the stage,” Clinton said during a discussion with top aide Jake Sullivan. “This is not a moment for me to do more than that.”
Sullivan argued that Clinton ought to tell voters how she really felt.
“Everything you said, we’re going to do in the speech,” Sullivan told her. “But you have been saying for many months that he’s temperamentally unfit and that he would be dangerous, and if you meant it, you should say it.”
He continued, “And you made a case that all these people’s rights and safety are in danger. If you meant that, you should say it.”
Clinton said that wasn’t her “job anymore.”
“Other people will criticize him. That’s their job. I have done it. I just lost, and that is that,” she said. “That was my last race.”
After Clinton called Trump to concede the election, she called then-President Barack Obama.
“Mr. President,” she said, “I’m sorry.”
When Clinton delivered her concession speech on the morning after Trump’s victory, she tried to strike a hopeful tone.
“This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and I’m sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country,” Clinton said. “But I feel pride and gratitude for this wonderful campaign that we built together — this vast, diverse, creative, unruly, energized campaign. You represent the best of America, and being your candidate has been one of the greatest honors of my life.
“This is painful and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this,” she continued. “Our campaign was never about one person or even one election, it was about the country we love and about building an America that’s hopeful, inclusive and bighearted.”
“We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought,” Clinton added. “But I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”
In their introduction, the authors of “Shattered” admit they “thought there was a pretty good chance” they would be “writing the inside story of Hillary shattering what she had called the ‘highest, hardest glass ceiling.’”
But Allen and Parnes were surprised to discover “how much infighting was going on below the surface.”
“Hillary’s campaign was so spirit-crushing that her aides eventually shorthanded the feeling of impending doom with a simple mantra,” they added. “‘We’re not allowed to have nice things.'”
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