Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton sort of, kind of, almost broke her streak and held a press conference on Friday.

More than seven months since her last formal press conference, the former secretary of State addressed a room full of journalists and took a few questions. Clinton was speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists during their annual conference in Washington. (Donald Trump also received an invitation but declined to speak.)

The president of the NABJ described the event as a large press conference, but many reporters who frequently cover the Democratic nominee pointed out that fielding a few pre-selected questions doesn't really count as a press conference.

Unlike her general election opponent, who has made media engagement a cornerstone of his campaign, Clinton is known for her reluctance to address reporters. The last formal press conference she had was in 2015, and by CNN’s Dan Merica’s count she’s only given 11 informal press “gaggles” to groups of reporters in 2016. Clinton does, however, engage in one-on-one interviews, including in recent days with Fox News, a network she had previously avoided for nearly two years.

During her remarks, Clinton praised the work of the media.

“I am delighted to thank you for the important work you do every day and now more than ever we need you to keep holding leaders and candidates accountable,” Clinton said. “We need you to make sure that America’s front pages and nightly newscasts and online information reflects the great diversity of our nation."

While Clinton may appreciate the work of the media, one reporter told her the media would appreciate it if she helped them do their work.

Before The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe asked Clinton about her issues with the public trust, he encouraged Clinton to speak to reporters more.

“On behalf of all of us, we encourage you to (take questions) more often with reporters,” he said, adding that she should especially take questions from those who are on the trail with her.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to request for comment on Clinton’s lack of press conferences.

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On Friday, Clinton also attempted to clarify her recent claims that FBI Director James Comey had said she told the American people the truth about her private email server. Clinton said that she may have "short circuited" her description of what happened.

While Comey has said that there is “no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI” he never weighed in on her statements to the American people.

“I was pointing out ... that Director Comey had said that my answers in my FBI interview were truthful that’s really the bottom line here and I have said during the interview and in many other occasions in the past months that what I have told the FBI — which he said was truthful — is consistent with what I have said publicly,” Clinton said. “So I may have short circuited it and for that I will try to clarify.”

On Sunday, Clinton told Fox News' Chris Wallace that the FBI director "said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people."

Fact-checkers bristled at the comment as Comey never commented on what Clinton had said to the public. And yet, despite multiple fact-checking sites calling Clinton's assertion incorrect (Politifact gave the comment a "Pants on Fire" rating) Clinton repeated it again later in the week in an interview with KUSA.