Clinton: I don't like hearing people don't trust me

Lamenting a decline of public trust in American institutions, Hillary Clinton went on the offensive Monday against "political opponents and conspiracy theorists" who have bandied about accusations regarding the former first lady, senator and secretary of state over the course of the last quarter century.

"A lot of people tell pollsters they don’t trust me. Now, I don’t like hearing that," the presumptive Democratic nominee said at the International Women's Luncheon in Chicago, the site of the 50th annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition Convention, alluding to surveys that show her polling below 40 percent in measures of honesty and trustworthiness.


"And I’ve thought a lot about what’s behind it," Clinton continued." And you know, you hear 25 years’ worth of wild accusations, anyone would start to wonder. And it certainly is true — I’ve made mistakes. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t. So I understand people having questions."

It is possible, Clinton said, to change people's minds "by marshaling facts and making arguments to rebut negative attacks," but, she conceded, "that doesn’t work for everyone. You can’t just talk someone into trusting you. You’ve got to earn it."

"So, yes, I could say that the reason I sometimes sound careful with my words is not that I’m hiding something, it’s just that I’m careful with my words," Clinton said. "I believe what you actually say matters. I think that’s true in life and it’s especially true if you’re president."

Clinton continued, "So, I do think before I speak, and could say that political opponents and conspiracy theorists have accused me of every crime in the book over the years."

"None of it’s true, never has been," she said. "But accusations like that never really disappear once they’re out there. And a lot of what people read about me in certain corners of the internet and a lot of what Donald Trump says about me is just that same nonsense. But — I know trust has to be earned.”

Shortly before Clinton made her remarks, The Associated Press reported on another 165 pages of emails from her time at the State Department, including 34 that she did not turn over last year that were sent through her private account.

“After attempting to skirt transparency laws with a secret server that put national security at risk and then waging a 15-month long campaign of deception about it, Hillary Clinton need not look further than her own dishonest and reckless conduct for why Americans lack faith in their government,” Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Short said in a statement.

Recalling her 2000 Senate run in New York, Clinton remarked that voters "had doubts about me," adding that she "delivered" for people, "and in the end, I earned their trust." And after her defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary against Barack Obama, she said, "he trusted me to be his secretary of state."

"So here’s what I say to voters who may have doubts: No one, no one will fight harder for you or your families than I will. You can count on that," she said. "I’ve been called a lot of things, but quitter is not one of them."