Defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has expressed her disappointment of losing the US presidential election to Donald Trump, saying there were times when she wanted to "curl up…and never leave the house again.”
More than a week after suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the Republican nominee in the November 8 election, Clinton admitted making the public appearance "wasn't the easiest” thing to do while speaking at a children's charity on Wednesday night in Washington, DC.
"Now I will admit coming here tonight wasn't the easiest thing for me," Clinton said as she was honored by the Children's Defense Fund.
"There have been a few times this past week where all I wanted to do was curl up with a good book and our dogs and never leave the house again,” she disclosed.
But the former secretary of state, first lady and New York senator went on to advise the audience to fight for American values and "never give up."
"I know many of you are deeply disappointed about the results of the election. I am, too, more than I can ever express,” she said.
"I know this isn't easy. I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was,” she stated.
Trump’s campaign had been hit with many controversies since its inception in early 2015. But he still managed to stun the world by defeating the heavily-favored candidate, Clinton, in the election.
In a speech full of emotions, Clinton also reflected about the defeat and how she wished she could tell her mother, who was discarded as a child, of what her daughter had accomplished in life.
"I dream of going up to her, and sitting next to her and taking her in my arms and saying, 'Look, look at me and listen. You will survive. You will have a family of your own: three children,'" Clinton said, choking up.
"And as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up to be a United States senator, represent our country as secretary of state, and win more than 62 million votes for president of the United States,” added Clinton, who lost the election but won the popular vote by about a million votes.
Trump won the presidential election with 306 votes in the Electoral College, 36 more than he required for winning the White House.
However, numerous polls taken before the presidential election showed that Clinton and Trump were deeply unpopular politicians, while Clinton’s Democratic primary rival, Bernie Sanders, enjoyed very high popularity.
Clinton was viewed by many voters as a corrupt member of the elite Washington establishment.
Sanders on Wednesday suggested that he could have defeated Trump in a general election.
“I would have been elected president of the United States," said Sanders, who had received 56 percent of the vote for the White House, according to the national survey conducted by Gravis Marketing two days before the November 8 presidential election.