A war of words between Donald Trump and Bill Clinton escalated after the former president told a local newspaper that Trump “doesn’t know much” and blamed his wife’s loss in the race for the White House on FBI Director James Comey and Russian hackers.
The president-elect took to his Twitter feed to respond Tuesday morning.
Clinton made the initial remarks last week to a group of people he ran into at a small bookstore in Westchester County, NY, including an editor at the Bedford-Pound Ridge Record Review, who published Clinton’s comments.
“James Comey cost her the election,” Clinton reportedly said, referring to Comey sending a letter to lawmakers just two weeks before the election about the finding of new emails the FBI said could be pertinent to an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server during her time as secretary of state. Clinton added, “We were seven (percentage) points up” in the polls and slated to win before Comey’s announcement.
Two days before the election, Comey told members of Congress that the FBI found nothing new in the e-mails but Clinton maintained the damage had already been done.
RELATED: Hillary Clinton Blames FBI Letter, Russia Hacking for Presidential Loss
In the reports of Clinton's stop at the bookstore, Clinton was characterized has having had taken a call from Trump after the election and described it as "cordial." On Tuesday afternoon, Clinton sought to clear up who initiated the phone call through his own Twitter feed:
Clinton was also asked at the book store if he thought Trump was a smart man. “He doesn’t know much. One thing he does know is how to get angry, white men to vote for him,” Clinton reportedly responded. He had previously said he believed Russia was also to blame for releasing internal Democratic emails and documents that hurt his wife’s election’s prospects before Election Day.
"I've watched her battle through that bogus email deal and be vindicated at the end," Clinton said earlier this week. "She fought through everything, and she prevailed against it all. But, you know, with the end we had the Russians and the FBI deal, which she couldn't prevail against that."