10 years later, Hillary Clinton still angrily trying to explain how she lost to Trump

Hours before the polls opened around the country for the 2026 midterm elections, Hillary Clinton showed up on CNN and complained incessantly about the outcome of an election held 10 years ago. 

The former first lady, senator, secretary of state, and failed presidential candidate appeared on the air along with Kara Swisher in an interview with Anderson Cooper. With the nation going to the polls and control of Congress hanging in the balance, the conversation for some reason centered on the 2016 race and a famous moment from one of the debates. Clinton explained to Cooper how, over the last decade, she's fantasized about confronting Trump combatively during the debate held in St. Louis.

"You know, turn on him really fast and say, ‘Back up, you creep! You’re not going to intimidate me!’” Clinton told Cooper, with Swisher nodding along in approval. 

With a decade to reflect on why she didn't confront Trump in that manner, Clinton said, “I also thought that that would be perceived by people as, you know, me being angry, and -- Lord knows -- we don’t want an angry woman.”

People may not "want an angry woman," as Clinton put it, but anyone watching CNN Monday night got an angry woman, still disgruntled about losing to Trump in 2016. At one point, though, Clinton showed a surprising level of awareness when she admitted, "I think he wanted to convey a different message, which, you know, did come across."

Trump ended up winning 304 Electoral College votes to Clinton's 227, and was re-elected by an even larger margin in 2024 when Americans were desperate for change after a disastrous four years under Joe Biden.

Watch a highlight of Clinton complaining below.