WASHINGTON — (CNN) In a wide-ranging interview, former Vice President Dick Cheney described how former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handled her email by using a private server as “sloppy and unprofessional.”
Speaking to CNN Special Correspondent Jamie Gangel, the blunt and provocative Cheney also said of Clinton: “Maybe she was ignorant, but I find that hard to believe. She’s an intelligent woman. She spent a lot of time in the White House.”
He added “I think she should have known better.”
When asked if he thought the Russians and Chinese may have copies of Clinton’s e-mails Cheney responded, “They’ve gotten my personnel records. How can they not have her emails?”
On whether this undermines or disqualifies her candidacy, the former Vice President said, “I think there’s a real possibility of that.”
Cheney gave the interview to publicize his new book “Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America,” co-written with his daughter Liz Cheney, a former State Department official in the George W. Bush administration.
Dick Cheney is very critical of the nuclear deal the U.S. and other Western countries reached with Iran.
Separately Cheney weighed in on whether his successor, Joe Biden, should run for the Democratic nomination. A smiling Cheney said: “I’d love to see Joe get in the race” and then laughs. When asked why, he responded, “Well go for it, Joe. He’s tried twice before. He obviously is interested. I think there’s a lot of support for him in the Democratic Party. I think it would stir things up. They’re short of candidates on their side. So I would urge Joe to have a shot at it.”
He added: “There was this notion that Hillary sort of had inherited the nomination, that nobody could really challenge for the nomination. I think that’s now pretty well gone by the boards because of her problems … my bet is Joe’s going to run.”
The full interview will debut Tuesday night on Anderson Cooper 360.
The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2015 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. (PHOTO: CNN)
