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'He claims whatever it is is rigged against him': Hillary Clinton analysis of Trump resurfaces four years on

During final debate in 2016, then-Democratic candidate warned ‘it’s funny, but it’s also really troubling’

Alex Woodward
New York
Thursday 05 November 2020 23:19 EST
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Hillary Clinton describes Trump's tendency to complain about rigging in 2016

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A resurfaced video of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton from her final debate against Donald Trump in 2016 has circulated on TikTok and across social media following the president’s baseless accusations that the 2020 race is “rigged” against him.

“Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him,” she said.

The former Secretary of State hammered candidate Trump over his “horrifying” suggestion that the 2016 election would be “rigged” against him, with unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud; prominent Republicans and GOP secretaries of states denied his accusations and assured voters that their ballots are secure.

Four years later, his allies in 2020 have echoed his claims of rampant fraud and rigged election results, without any evidence, as his Democratic opponent Joe Biden out-performs him at the polls

Following his losses in 2016’s primary election-opening caucus in Iowa and in Wisconsin’s primary several weeks later, the president’s campaign claimed the results were “rigged” and that “the Republican primary is rigged against him,” Ms Clinton said.

Read more: Follow the 2020 US election results live

After his Trump University was accused of fraud in class action lawsuits he eventually settled for $25m, “he claims the court system and the federal judge is rigged against him," Ms Clinton said.

In his first in-person remarks after Election Day this week, the president addressed reporters from the White House on 5 November to raise conspiracies and allege Democratic-engineered fraud through mail-in ballots as elections officials continued to count the results. He called mail-in votes “one-sided” after those votes leaned towards Joe Biden.

“There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV programme three years in a row, and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged,” Ms Clinton said at the 2016 debate.

“I should’ve gotten it," he said, laughing.

Read more: US election results map: Live updates by state

From 2004 to 2006, Trump’s NBC reality series The Apprentice lost four Emmy awards to The Amazing Race.

He raged against them on Twitter: “The Emmys are all politics, that’s why, despite nominations, The Apprentice never won—even though it should have won many times over."

“This is a mindset," candidate Clinton added. “This is how Donald thinks, and it’s funny, but it’s also really troubling. That is not the way our democracy works.”

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