Hillary Clinton bashed her long-standing rival, former President Donald Trump, alleging he led a “seditious conspiracy” against the United States during the time surrounding the Capitol riot.
While throwing shade at Trump for refusing to accept his electoral defeat at the hands of President Joe Biden in 2016, she alleged Trump committed a crime during the fallout of the heated election in a clip shared Tuesday from an interview with CBS.
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“I would not be honest if I didn’t say I think there was a seditious conspiracy against the government of the United States and that’s a crime,” the former Democratic presidential candidate told CBS’s Norah O’Donnell in an interview that will air on Tuesday night.
“Led by Donald Trump, encouraged by Donald Trump,” Clinton said of the conspiracy when pressed by O’Donnell.
Seditious conspiracy of seeking to overthrow the United States government is a crime that can entail up to 20 years in prison. Some alleged participants in the storming of the Capitol, such as members of the Oath Keepers, are facing seditious conspiracy charges.
Clinton recalled the anguish she felt when she lost the Electoral College vote to Trump in 2016 despite earning nearly 3 million more votes in the popular count than him. Rather than challenge her loss, she conceded the election.
“Was I happy when I beat Donald Trump by nearly 3 million votes but lost the Electoral College? No, I was not happy,” she recalled. “Did I even for a nanosecond think I’m going to claim victory and try to get the Democrats to refuse to certify the election? No.”
Trump has long contended that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen” from him despite losing the Electoral College with 232 electors to Biden’s 306. In the days that followed the election, Trump and his allies sought to prod Congress into decertifying the election results on Jan. 6, 2021, during the day of the Capitol riot.
Clinton underscored the importance of having a peaceful transfer of power to a thriving democracy.
“I spent, you know, many days on airplanes flying from place to place encouraging people to have a real democracy, and one of the hallmarks of a real democracy is the peaceful transfer of power,” she said.
The interview with Clinton is scheduled to air at 10:30 p.m. EST on Person to Person with Norah O’Donnell, CBS said.
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Clinton also zinged Trump and his allies Tuesday for contrasting the FBI’s handling of her email situation with its handling of classified material at Mar-a-Lago in a series of tweets.
“As Trump’s problems continue to mount, the right is trying to make this about me again. There’s even a ‘Clinton Standard,” she tweeted. “The fact is that I had zero emails that were classified.”
I can’t believe we’re still talking about this, but my emails…
As Trump’s problems continue to mount, the right is trying to make this about me again. There’s even a “Clinton Standard.”
The fact is that I had zero emails that were classified.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 6, 2022
