President Obama Says Hillary Clinton Was Not 'Treated Fairly' During Presidential Election

— -- President Obama said today that he did not think Hillary Clinton was “treated fairly” during the presidential election.

Obama was asked specifically during a news conference whether his former secretary of state lost because of Russia’s reported hacking of the Democratic Party and Clinton campaign computer servers. The president pivoted on that question, and instead lobbed a critique of the media. He said he found the coverage of Clinton “troubling.”

“I think she's worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and I don't think she was treated fairly during the election, I think the coverage of her -- and the issues -- was troubling,” he said.

Clinton and her campaign in recent days have also expressed disappointment with news outlets' focus on her private email server during the campaign over Russia’s involvement in the data breaches. Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta, called the coverage of the Russia story “lackadaisical,” and Clinton last night reportedly told donors in New York that she was glad the press was catching onto the issue.

Looking ahead, President Obama said that perhaps he can give “counsel and advice” to the Democratic Party.

“The question is how do we rebuild that party as a whole so that there's not a county in any state -- I don't care how red -- where we don't have a presence and we're not making the argument because I think we have the better argument,” he said of the Democratic Party.

He added that he would have liked to have helped more to build a national and successful party but struggled to contribute more time because of his primary responsibilities at the White House.