Trump Spars with Clinton over Accusations FBI Contributed to Election Loss

U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed accusations by presidential opponent Hillary Clinton that FBI Director James Comey was partially responsible for her unsuccessful attempt to win the 2016 presidential election.

Trump posted on Twitter late Tuesday that Comey actually helped Clinton by giving her a “free pass” for alleged wrongdoing and maintained Russia’s alleged interference in the election was another lame excuse for her failed White House bid.

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

…Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

Earlier Tuesday, Clinton blamed a number of players on her loss, including Comey and the website WikiLeaks, which published emails hacked from her campaign director.

Clinton said she “was on the way to winning” before WikiLeaks began releasing emails stolen from campaign manager John Podesta and Comey told Congress he was reviewing additional emails related to Clinton’s use of a private server. She said those events “raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off.

She said widespread misogyny among the American electorate also aided in her defeat.

Clinton also said she took “personal responsibility” for the loss and acknowledged that she did not run a “perfect campaign.”

Clinton said she would offer more details and analysis of her electoral defeat in a book she is publishing this fall.

An election analysis released this week by a group of top Democratic Party strategists suggests the main reason for Clinton’s loss was her failure to win the support of a large number of 2012 President Barack Obama supporters who voted for Trump in 2016.

Matt Canter of the Democratic political firm Global Strategy Group told The McClatchy Company his organization’s analysis concluded 70 percent of Clinton’s loss can be attributed to her failure capture many of the votes that were cast for Obama in 2012.

According to McClatchy, Canter’s conclusion “is shared broadly among Democrats who have examined the data,” including former senior members of Clinton’s campaign.