Christabel Duah
Sen. John McCain says Hillary Clinton has “to move on” from her stunning 2016 presidential campaign loss.
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In an interview with Esquire magazine released on Sunday, the Arizona Republican said that it was a mistake for Clinton to write her book about the presidential campaign so soon after she lost.
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“What’s the f*****g point? Keep the fight up? History will judge that campaign, and it’s always a period of time before they do,” he told Esquire. “You’ve got to move on. This is Hillary’s problem right now: She doesn’t have anything to do.”
According to the senator, Clinton was too eager to put out her account rather than just let the dust settle.
“You’ve got to understand that you can’t rewrite history,” he continued. “One of the almost irresistible impulses you have when you lose is to somehow justify why you lost and how you were mistreated: ‘I did the right thing! I did!’ The hardest thing to do is to just shut up.”
Clinton released “What Happened” in September; in it, she blamed everyone from Bernie Sanders for targeting her to Barack Obama for not speaking up that America’s “democracy was under attack.”
Most of all, of course, she blamed herself.
“You can blame the data, blame the message, blame anything you want — but I was the candidate. It was my campaign. Those were my decisions.”
In addition to criticizing Clinton, the “Maverick” also had harsh words for Donald Trump’s presidency, even while being a “loyal Republican.”
“I don’t agree with the way he’s conducting his presidency, obviously. He’s an individual that unfortunately is not anchored by a set of principles,” he told Esquire.
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“I think he’s a person who takes advantage of situations. He was successful as a builder, an entrepreneur and all that. But I don’t think he has the fundamental underpinnings of principles and beliefs.”
Like Clinton, McCain is releasing a memoir, which will include commentary about his own 2008 campaign when he and running mate, Sarah Palin, lost to Obama and Joe Biden.
His book, “The Restless Wave,” is set to drop in April 2018.
