Late Tuesday night, President Trump was tweeting about his former rival, Hillary Clinton, and FBI Director James Comey, who, Mr. Trump called "the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton."

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

Comey, in Mr. Trump's view, had given her a free pass in not recommending that she be charged for mishandling classified information, in relation to her use of a private email server while she was secretary of State.

He then derided the "phony Trump/Russia story" as an "excuse" Democrats came up with to explain losing the presidential election. Could it not be, he wondered over Twitter at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday night, that "Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?"

...Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

His comments came hours after Clinton had reflected on her campaign loss at an international women's event in New York.

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"I was on the way to winning until the combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off," the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee said at the Women for Women International Luncheon, during a conversation with Christiane Amanpour.

CBS News' Rebecca Shabad contributed to this story