Hillary Clinton traded laughs with Jimmy Fallon during a safe, relaxed interview late Wednesday night that sought to frame her as more personal and relatable amid her struggles at the polls.
{mosads}The brief line of questioning wasn’t revelatory, as Clinton echoed her previous assertions that she never sent or received classified emails while using her personal server as secretary of State. She reiterated that she believes the debate over classification stems from interagency squabbling and brushed off the vast majority of the released emails as “boring.”
“The most significant one that has come to light — this was a really important issue and I had to talk about it on the email — was I was asked if I could get gefilte fish into Israel for order for it to be used in time for Passover,” she said
“The stuff that’s in it is really boring people, which kind of hurts my feelings.”
The State Department has said that 150 of the 7,000 emails in the latest batch of 7,000 Clinton emails contained information that has since been classified. That’s drawn the ire of Republicans who accuse Clinton of putting sensitive information at risk.
Clinton’s poll numbers have continued to slide since she entered the race amid repeated questions over her use of the private email server.
Her interview, taped earlier Wednesday, aired about a half hour after the second GOP presidential debate ended. Clinton told Fallon that she’s had a “good time” watching Donald Trump’s rise to the top of the Republican field. As a barb at Trump’s famous hair, she invited Fallon to grasp at hers to ensure it was real.
Before her interview, Clinton kicked off the show with a mock telephone conversation with “Donald Trump,” played by Jimmy Fallon. Fallon used the character to interview Trump during his visit to the show last week as well.
“I spent my entire career fighting for women’s rights. … I am curious, Donald, what is your stance on women’s issues?” Clinton asked Fallon’s Trump — a reference to criticism about Trump’s comments toward women, including fellow GOP candidate Carly Fiorina.
“Look, I know a lot of women, and they all have issues,” Fallon said as Trump.
The Trump character also doled out campaign advice to Clinton, telling her that she sounds like a robot.
“You wanna win, here’s what you gotta do. First, yell. I yell all the time. In fact, this phone isn’t even plugged in,” Fallon said.
“Next, take three things everyone loves and say you hate them. Watch: Puppies, stupid. Rainbows, total losers. Fall foliage, tree puberty. Are you writing this down?”
Humoring “Trump,” Clinton told him she’d get a pen but instead picked up a glass of white wine.