Hillary Clinton sat down for an intense interview Sunday on “Meet the Press” about her use of a private email server as secretary of state and her changing political positions.
The Democratic presidential frontrunner told moderator Chuck Todd that she’s been as “transparent as possible” about the emails, but admitted constant questions on the issue have made it difficult to move forward.
“It is like a drip, drip, drip, and that’s why I said that there’s only so much that I can control,” Clinton said on the NBC political program. “I can’t predict to you what the Republicans will come up with, what kind of charges or claims they might make. I have no control over that. I can only do the best I can to try to respond.”
Clinton once again admitted that using a private email server was a mistake.
“I take responsibility. It was my choice. It was a mistake back when I did it. And I’m trying to do the best I can to answer all of the questions that people have,” she said.
The presidential contender went on to refer to Republican suggestions that she used the private server to avoid freedom of information requests or congressional subpoenas as “totally ridiculous.”
Todd played a clip of the former secretary of state on the program seven years ago, in which she said she wanted the government to be more “transparent.” He reminded Clinton that months later, in 2009, she started using a private email server, and asked her if she sees that as a problem.
“All of the emails that I sent were intended to be in the government systems, if they were work related,” she said. “I did it for convenience, but it turned out to be not that at all.”
She also tried to explain the recent discovery of an email chain from January 2009 with Gen. David Petraeus — two months before she has said she used the private account.
“There was a transition period. I wasn’t that focused on my email account,” she answered when pressed.
Todd then brought up what he described as a “trust deficit” surrounding the former First Lady and played a montage of her changing positions on the Iraq war, gay marriage and the Keystone XL Pipeline. He mentioned that critics have said she changes positions out of “political expediency.”
Clinton disagreed, insisting she assesses issues over time and changes her mind like everyone else.
“If we don’t learn, if we don’t make decisions based on the best information we have available, that’s regrettable,” she said. “What I’ve always tried to do is say ‘what is the best decision that I can think about making.’”
She then touted her political record and “life-long advocacy for kids and families and women.”
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday showed Clinton losing ground to Bernie Sanders. She currently leads him by seven points with Joe Biden in the race, and 15 points without the vice president included. In July she held a 34-point lead over Sanders.
As TheWrap previously reported, Clinton is scheduled to appear at three Los Angeles-area fundraisers on Sunday.
Watch the video below of Hillary Clinton on “Meet the Press.”