Hillary Clinton calls Kamala Harris the underdog because of Electoral College
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a recent interview that Vice President Kamala Harris was the "underdog" in the race for the White House because of the Electoral College.
"We are the underdog, that just kind of goes with the territory when we have the Electoral College staring at you, and we all have to be willing to take whatever steps to support her," Clinton told The 19th News during an interview published Thursday.
Clinton has blamed several factors over the years for her 2016 defeat to Donald Trump, the Electoral College among them, as she won the national popular vote but still lost the election after Trump narrowly won that year's hotly contested battleground states. In 2017, she called for the Electoral College to be "eliminated."
Clinton spoke on the first night of the Democratic National Convention and praised Harris as the candidate who "will fight to lower costs for hard-working families, open the doors wide for good-paying jobs," in addition to restoring abortion rights.
"I have no doubt that the other side can do everything they can [to] prevent her from winning, and they’ve had four years to plan whatever actions they can take. They are ruthless, so we have to fight as hard as we can to overcome whatever obstacles," Clinton told The 19th.
The 19th News' Errin Haines asked Clinton if the country would need "time" and "help" to "catch up to the idea of a woman president."
"People have hesitancy because there’s no perfect woman. So I think the challenge will be to make the case on the merits, overcome the doubts and questions people have and mobilize voters to turn out because if our people vote, we will win," Clinton said.
During her address at the DNC, Clinton took several shots at former President Trump, who she said "only cares about himself."
"So no matter what the polls say, we can't let up. We can't get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes. We have to fight for the truth. We have to fight for Kamala as she will fight for us. Because you know what? It still takes a village to raise a family, heal a country and win a campaign," Clinton told the DNC crowd.
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Clinton said during the interview that she speaks to Harris regularly and offers any advice that she can.
She described Harris' candidacy as a "win-win," and argued that the vice president had earned it.
Former President Bill Clinton also spoke at the DNC and lauded Harris as a candidate who would represent all Americans.
"Kamala Harris will work to solve our problems, seize our opportunities, ease our fears, and make sure every single American, however they vote, has a chance to chase their dreams," he said.