Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said in a new interview that she tried to get out of attending President Trump's inauguration in January.

"I really tried to get out of going," Clinton said in an appearance on BBC One's "The Graham Norton Show." "We thought 'OK, maybe others aren't going.' "

"We called the Bushes, and the elder Bushes were in the hospital, which I think was legitimate," she joked.

"And so then, we called the younger Bushes and they said 'yeah, we're going.' We called the Carters, and they said 'yeah, we're going,' so Bill and I looked at each other and we said, 'We gotta go.' "

Clinton also said she wanted Trump to "rise to the occasion of being our president" during his inaugural address, but said "that didn't happen" because of Trump's "dark, divisive speech."

The former Democratic presidential nominee has called Trump's inaugural address a "cry from the white nationalist gut."

In the speech, Trump took aim at the U.S. political class and depicted the U.S. as a country that was struggling to lead in a dangerous world.

"This American carnage stops right here and right now," he said.

The president's former chief strategist Stephen Bannon and adviser Stephen Miller reportedly wrote the speech.