Eva Jinek interviews Hillary Clinton; over 600,000 watchers

Dutch presenter Eva Jinek interviewed American presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on a special episode of Brandpunt+ on Tuesday night. Some 611 thousand viewers tuned in to watch, according to figures from Stichting Kijkonderzoek.

The interview was recorded last week Thursday and broadcast on Tuesday, according to NOS. Jinek and Clinton discussed Clinton's campaign to become president of the United States, her reaction when Donald Trump won instead, and Trump as an opponent for whom rules don't seem to apply. 

"Total shock. I don't even pretend to have understood what was happening. I could not believe it", Clinton said about the moment AP announced Trump had won the election. "It was contrary to everything we thought was going to happen. There was something that did not add up to me but I couldn't figure out what was going on."

"But I figured, look if it had happened, which apparently it had, then I needed to concede. Which meant a call to Trump, which I made." According to Clinton, the only person more surprised by the election results than her, was him. "He had no reason to believe he was going to win", she said. "But I wished him well. Obviously for the sake of our country, I wanted him to be successful."

Clinton hoped that Trump would behave better once being in office, but that did not happen, she said. "He's crossed into a territory of behaviors and actions that are unpredictable, that are erratic - like his decision to launch a trade war - that are undermining the stability of the global order. 

Hillary Clinton is "thrilled" by the fact that currently more than ever women in the United States say they want to run for president. She calls it a silver lining "if we can get more women into politics, more young people into politics". "Just ignite this new generation of activism that wants to bring people together, not divide and separate us. And wants people to come up with real solutions, not platitudes and rhetoric. And if this [her running for president] can unleash that, then I will feel really good about that."

She has no idea who the first female president of the United States is going to be, but she intends to see her raised in her lifetime. Clinton thinks it will be someone with a background in politics, with a good record, and who maybe learned from the mistakes Clinton faced in her campaign. "I'm going to be there cheering her on, assuming I agree with her."

The entire interview can be watched on NPO's website.