WASHINGTON
(AP) — Hillary Clinton acknowledged Friday the challenge she'd face
leading a country where most Americans don't trust her, saying she takes
"seriously" the work she must do to build confidence in her character.
But
the Democratic presidential nominee also claimed that a broad electoral
victory over Donald Trump in November would give her the capital needed
to push her plans through Congress with Republican support and appeared
to blame her political opponents for her low approval ratings.
Clinton
pointed to the high ratings she won as secretary of state and as a
senator from New York, arguing that voters like her more when she's
working than when she's campaigning — something she attributed to
campaign attacks on her character.
"Were
67 percent of the people in New York wrong? Were 66 percent of the
American public wrong?" Clinton said. "Just maybe, when I'm actually
running for a job, there is a real benefit to those on the other side
with trying to stir up as much trouble as possible."
Clinton's
trustworthiness has emerged as her biggest weakness in the fall
campaign, one worsened by her responses to questions about her use of
private emails servers as secretary of state and her reluctance to take
regular questions from journalists.
The
questions-and-answer session Friday at a joint meeting of the National
Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic
Journalists marked the first time she's talked about how that political
problem could impact her future administration.
Clinton
attempted to "clarify and explain" a recent statement on "Fox News
Sunday" that FBI Director James Comey had said her answers about her
emails practices were "truthful."
"I
may have short-circuited and for that I will try to clarify," she said.
Comey was speaking solely about her responses in a closed-door FBI
interview, and not her public comments on the issue, which have included
inconsistencies.
Clinton
has claimed she never sent or received anything marked classified. In
reviewing the FBI's investigation, Comey said seven e-mail chains dealt
with matters that were "that were classified at the Top Secret/Special
Access Program level when they were sent and received."
During
the short question-and-answer session, Clinton also detailed some of
her plans should she win the White House, promising to make an overhaul
of America's immigration system a "clear, high priority."
She
argued that a broad victory, one that included Democrats winning
control of the Senate and tightening their margin in the House, would
put pressure on Republicans to come along.
"There's
nothing like winning to change minds," she said. "I view the political
landscape as increasingly favorable to us making this happen."
That
logic would depend on Republicans changing the political calculus
they've made over the past eight years. Even when President Barack Obama
held majorities in both the Senate and House during his first term, he
was still unable to find widespread Republican support for his plans.
Her
comments Friday came before an unusual audience: the media. Clinton
last held a formal press conference more than eight months ago. Aides
says she's conducted over 300 interviews since launching her campaign,
but she has shied away from open forums where reporters can ask
questions.
Friday's event was carefully controlled, with Clinton taking just seven questions from preselected journalists.
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