Washington (CNN) Hillary Clinton suggested Thursday that the criticism she should "go away" following her election loss to President Donald Trump is based in sexism, arguing that her critics never asked that of losing candidates who are male.

"That began to happen after the election. ... I was really struck by how people said that to me -- you know, mostly people in the press, for whatever reason — like, 'Oh, you know, go away, go away,'" Clinton said at an event at Rutgers University.

Ruth Mandel, director of the university's Eagleton Institute of Politics, had asked Clinton what her response has been to people who call for her "'get off the public stage and shut up.'"

"They never said that to any man who was not elected," Clinton said. "I was kind of struck by that."

She went on to reference former presidential contenders who had lost their bid for the White House but did not shrink away from political discussion.

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