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Trump Tweeted About Clinton's Loss After She Said He Needs To Let It Go

by Katherine Speller
Elsa/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Hours after an interview with his former-presidential opponent hit the air on Tuesday, President Donald Trump tweeted about Hillary Clinton's 2016 election loss (again). Trump's late-night response name-dropped FBI Director James Comey, claiming he gave Clinton a "free pass for many bad deeds." As if that wasn't enough, his tweet also suggested that allegations his campaign colluded with Russia during the election were the Democratic Party's way of justifying their loss. (Trump has denied the Russia collusion claims).

This latest bout of deja-vu Twitter-beef followed Clinton criticizing Trump's tweeting habits (among other things) in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour at a Women for Women International event in New York. When Amanpour (prophetically, it seems) joked that Clinton would soon hear from the POTUS's Twitter after mentioning her popular vote count (3 million more than Trump) she seemed unimpressed and encouraged him to focus on his job instead.

Fine. Better than the interfering in foreign affairs. If he wants to tweet about me than I am happy to be the diversion because we have lot of things to worry about. He should worry less about the election and my winning the popular vote than doing some other things that would be important for the country.

Clinton's interview also touched on a few other issues surrounding the election and the different factors that might've led to its results. She cited the timing of Comey's Oct. 28 letter regarding an FBI investigation into Clinton's email server (which, as he later clarified, did not change the initial decision not to file charges against her), as well as the role of misogyny. Ultimately, she said she took "absolute personal responsibility" for the loss, but above all, she expressed a desire to move forward.

"I am now back to being an activist, citizen, and part of the resistance," she said, between public requests that the Trump administration remain committed to promoting "women's rights and opportunities" and take a more cautious approach to relations with North Korea.

It was sort of inevitable that Trump would reply to Clinton in some form — and probably after dark. Unlike Clinton, moving forward from the election doesn't seem to interest Trump; his constant need to defend and revel in his election victory (particularly when confronted with the sore spot of the popular vote results) and his love of trashing his former opponent are well-documented.

And it's also likely that Clinton's explicit indifference to the oncoming Twitter wrath — paired with that not-so-subtle "bring it on" challenge of encouraging him to just let it go, already — played a part as well.