(CNN) Hillary Clinton's former campaign chairman John Podesta dismissed Wednesday President Donald Trump's fixation with his 2016 election opponent.

"I think it really just bugs the hell out of him that she got 3 million more votes than he did," Podesta mused after "New Day" anchor Alisyn Camerota asked for his reaction to Trump's frequent references to Clinton.

"What they like to try to do is throw dust someplace else so they at least give the alt-right media and Fox News something to talk about," Podesta added.

Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, said Trump's mentions of Hillary Clinton are part of an effort to deflect from the controversy surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and potential involvement by Trump associates.

Podesta's emails were hacked into and released during the campaign as part of a Russian effort to harm Clinton, US intelligence officials have said.

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