Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Virginia Democrat blasts Trump's 'appalling' remark about COVID-19 deaths in 'blue states' The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE said on Thursday that misogyny "played a role" her 2016 defeat.

"Certainly, misogyny played a role," Clinton said at the Women of the World Summit in New York. "I mean, that just has to be admitted. And why and what the underlying reasons were is what I'm trying to parse out myself."

Her comments marked a rare reflection by Clinton on a presidential contest that many pundits and pollsters expected her to win with ease. In a question and answer session, the former secretary of state painted the election cycle as a period of overwhelming change and tumult, and said that the prospect of electing the first woman president may have exacerbated a sense of uncertainty among many voters.

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"I think in this election there was a very real struggle between what is viewed as change that is welcomed and exciting to so many Americans, and change which is worrisome and threatening to so many others," Clinton said. "And you layer on the first woman president over that and I think some people, women included, had real problems."

Clinton was the first woman nominated as a presidential candidate by one of the country's two major political parties. But despite high polling numbers, Clinton suffered a shocking loss to President Trump in November.

Since then, she has remained relatively quiet on the election, though she has made several public appearances in recent weeks.