Look what losing has done to Hillary ...
I just wanted to curl up and hide, she confesses
IF everything had gone according to plan, she would be showing her usual perfectly groomed persona to the world while putting together her presidential team.
But with those ambitions sunk without trace, Hillary Clinton clearly felt no need to keep up her image of polished control.
In her first public appearance since conceding defeat in the race for the US presidency, she ditched the heavy make-up and immaculate coiffure seen on the election trail.
Instead, Mrs Clinton, 69, opted for a more natural look, appearing tired and baggy eyed and with a hairstyle that could be politely called untamed.
And she confessed that she wanted to hide away in the aftermath of her stunning defeat by Donald Trump, seeming at times to fight back tears during her speech at a charity event in Washington.
‘There have been a few times this past week when all I’ve wanted to do is just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again,’ she told the audience.
‘I will admit coming here wasn’t the easiest thing for me. I know many of you are deeply disappointed about the results of the election. I am too, more than I can ever express.’
The former First Lady did not mention president-elect Mr Trump by name. But she said: ‘I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was. The divisions laid bare by this election run deep.
‘But please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it. Our children are worth it. Believe in our country.
‘Fight for our values and never, ever give up.’
And speaking to the children’s charity gala, just a few blocks from the White House, Mrs Clinton appeared to be holding back tears when she recalled her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who was an abandoned child. Final counting in the election is yet to be completed, but Mrs Clinton has secured the ‘popular vote’ – that is, winning more individual votes than Mr Trump. Her total is likely to exceed his by two million once counting is finished. But she was beaten because Mr Trump won more electoral college votes which, under the US system, decide who enters the White House.
Mrs Clinton added: ‘America is still the greatest country in the world. This is still the place where anyone can beat the odds. It’s up to each and every one of us to keep working to make America better and stronger and fairer,’ she told the gala for The Children’s Defence Fund. ÷ Mr Trump offered a casual, open-ended invitation for Theresa May to visit him in Washington, an official transcript of their telephone conversation has revealed.
He told the Prime Minister: ‘If you travel to the US, you should let me know.’
The informality of the invitation – which raised eyebrows among British officials – was in contrast to No10’s version of events. Shortly after the call last week, a Downing Street spokesman said he invited Mrs May ‘to visit him as soon as possible’.
The two leaders held a tenminute conversation during which he called the UK a ‘very special place for me and my country’, The Times reported.
‘Divisions laid bare’