Story highlights "Hillary Clinton, this was not the time she should've run for president," Rendell said.

He added, "And it would be interesting to think of how Bernie Sanders would've done."

(CNN) Ed Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania and former Democratic National Committee chairman, said Wednesday that "this was not the time" defeated Democratic nominee HIllary Clinton should have run for president.

"Hillary Clinton, this was not the time she should've run for president," Rendell said on the "Rich Zeoli Show" on 1210 WPHT Philadelphia radio . "Probably 2008 would've been a better time for her to run for president. But it's just right time, right place. And again, you've got to give Donald Trump a ton of credit."

Clinton did run for president in 2008 and lost to Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.

Asked by host Rich Zeoli why Clinton had the support of the establishment of the Democratic party during this year's primary, Rendell replied it was because of her emotional ties with those in the party.

"Because she was someone who had friends that were longtime friends and associates of the party and there's a great feeling," he said. "There's an emotional tie between a lot of Democrats around the country and Hillary Clinton. But you know, that doesn't mean that she was the right candidate for a general election."

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