Hillary Clinton offered Americans her first apology over the email scandal that is threatening to bring down her campaign. Through a taped interview, Clinton summarized her apology as a “mistake” while taking a lot of precaution to sound legitimately remorseful. However, many analysts think it may be a little too late for her and her campaign for the top job.
In a taped interview aired on ABC news on Tuesday, Clinton said, “Even though it was allowed, I should have used two accounts. One for personal, one for work-related emails. That was a mistake. I’m sorry about that. I take responsibility.”
Further recognizing that she could have made her apology earlier in the year, the former secretary of state said, “I do think I could have and should have done a better job answering questions earlier,” she added. “I really didn’t, perhaps, appreciate the need to do that.”
Clinton’s apology comes a day after she told the Associated Press that she would not apologize for her use of a private email when sending state department confidential emails because what she did “was allowed.”
In the months following the email investigation, Clinton surrendered 55,000 pages of work emails after a request was made by the State Department while the FBI took possession of her emails servers last month.
When questioned during the interview by ABC whether she would survive the FBI investigation, Clinton reminded Americans of her long career in Washington, the longest of all 2016 presidential contenders.
She said, “As you might guess I’ve been around a while, lots of attacks, questions raised. I can survive it because I’m running to be president, to do what the country needs done.”
Just how much damage has the scandal brought her campaign? Dwindling figures in polls and America’s confidence in her. A recent survey Quinnipiac University poll showed 61 percent of Americans did not view Clinton as being honest while a paltry 34 percent did.
Another poll by Monmouth University showed Clinton at her worst performance since launching her campaign. She polled in at 42 percent among Democrats while Vice President Joe Biden was second with 22 percent and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders third at 20 per cent.
Clinton’s campaigners now hope her apology will offer her an opportunity to redeem herself, something she never did in 2008.
In the run up for the 2008 Democratic ticket, asked on whether she thought voting to allow the invasion of Iraq was wrong, Clinton refused to apologize. She only dismissed the matter in front of a new Hampshire crowd with the words, “If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or who has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from.” For many that refusal to apologize was what ultimately cost her the Democratic ticket.
Clinton’s campaign is facing heavy fire. Her email scandal is erupting and the confidence Americans have in her is fast waning. It will be interesting to see whether her apology will change her fortunes ahead of the first Democratic Presidential Debate.
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