Clinton Won't Rule Out Challenging Election Validity

Although she tells NPR she doesn't think there's any avenue to do that
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 18, 2017 2:14 PM CDT
Clinton Won't Rule Out Challenging Election Validity
Hillary Rodham Clinton signs copies of her book "What Happened" at a book store in New York.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Hillary Clinton's latest interview to plug her memoir might be the most provocative yet. In response to a question, Clinton tells Terry Gross of NPR that she would not rule out challenging the legitimacy of the 2016 election because of Russian interference. However, Clinton adds that she doesn't see any legal avenue to do so. It's worth reading the full transcript for context, but Gross asks Clinton the question three separate times to make sure everything is clear.

  • Gross: "I want to get back to the question, 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?"
  • Clinton: "No. I would not. I would say —"
  • Gross: "You're not going to rule it out."
  • Clinton: "No, I wouldn't rule it out."

But Clinton also says she doesn't think there is "any legal constitutional way to do that." At another point, in a comment sure to rankle President Trump even further, Clinton suggests that she would not have accepted the election results had she been in Trump's shoes. "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 says, adding that she would have immediately set up an independent panel to investigate. (Listen to the interview or read it in full here. In it, Clinton also asserts that Trump "poses a clear and present threat to our democracy.")

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