United States

Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server, Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, and the 2016 general election campaign

The presidential general election campaign was among the most rancorous in recent history, with Clinton accusing Trump of being devoid of the temperament and judgment required to serve as president, while Trump argued that Clinton lacked the “stamina” necessary for the office and that she should be jailed for what he claimed was criminal use of her private e-mail server while secretary of state. Together they were among the most unpopular final major-party presidential candidates in U.S. history.

Trump’s comments and attitudes toward women and Clinton’s use of that private e-mail server came back to haunt them as the election campaign wound to a close in October. Early in the month a hot-mic video from an infotainment television program (Access Hollywood) in 2005 surfaced in which Trump boasted to a reporter about sexual exploits that were grounded in predatory behaviour. Trump sought to defuse the onslaught of outrage that followed by characterizing his remarks as “locker-room talk” and denied subsequent allegations by a series of women who claimed that he had sexually assaulted them, but his already low support among women voters continued to wane, and some Republicans began to withdraw their endorsements. Only weeks before the election, FBI Director James Comey announced that the bureau was reviewing additional e-mails related to the Clinton investigation that had been recently discovered, intensifying concerns about her trustworthiness that already plagued her candidacy. Only on the Sunday before the election did Comey announce that no criminal activity by Clinton had been found by this additional investigation.