Hillary on Sexism She Experienced: People Asked Me ‘Why Are You’ Running for President?

Hillary Clinton, who is blaming America's "endemic sexism and misogyny" on her loss in 2016, is citing as proof of the sexism she experienced reporters asking her about her motivation for running for president. 

"I would be asked questions like, 'Well, why are you really running for president?'" Clinton said Friday night in an interview on PBS. "I didn’t hear Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz or Bernie Sanders asked that question, as though there was something hidden or, or, or so unusual about a woman stepping forward and saying, you know, 'I think I could be a good president, I hope you’ll support me.'"

Clinton also blamed a number of other criticisms of female Democratic lawmakers on sexism, such as Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

Here's a transcript of the exchange: 

WOODRUFF: “You also write about the role of gender; the fact that women are treated differently in politics, held to a higher standard. You quote your friend, Cheryl Sandburg, talking about how women, the more successful they are, the less they are liked.”

CLINTON: “People all the time say, 'Oh, if you only knew Hillary Clinton the way I know Hillary Clinton.' Well, it’s really hard to get to know me, or any candidate, and I would be asked questions like, 'Well, why are you really running for president?' I didn’t hear Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz or Bernie Sanders asked that question, as though there was something hidden or, or, or so unusual about a woman stepping forward and saying, you know, 'I think I could be a good president, I hope you’ll support me.'

"So, I do believe, and in this chapter called 'On Being a Woman in Politics,' that we have to come to grips with the endemic sexism and misogyny. Of course, it’s not just in politics. It’s in business. We’ve seen a lot of that coming out of Silicon Valley, and it’s in the media, it’s in culture. We know that. But in politics in particular, where now some of my former colleagues and friends in the Senate are being attacked and they’re being attacked in very sexist ways.

"You know, Elizabeth Warren told to, you know, sit down and basically shut up, don’t persist. Kamala Harris being attacked. Kirsten Gillibrand talks about being manhandled by fellow members of Congress in the gym. You know, I want to blow this up so that people have to confront it. And then maybe whoever comes next won’t have to face it as much.”