‘Every Time I Met With Him’: Hillary Clinton on Vladimir Putin’s ‘Manspreading’

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday described experiencing sexism and witnessing “manspreading” from Russian President Vladimir Putin during her tenure as Secretary of State.

“There’s an expression—we certainly know it in New York—called manspreading. Every time I met with him, it would be…” she said, gesturing to show legs spread apart. “The whole deal.”

During one meeting in Moscow, Clinton said, Putin took her into what she called his “inner sanctum” to show her a map and tell her about the places where he was going to tag polar bears.

“Then he says to me, ‘Would your husband like to come?'” she said. “I said, ‘Well, you know, I’ll ask him, but if he’s busy, I’ll go.'”

While promoting her new memoir, What Happened, Clinton has been speaking out about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. “I don’t think anybody can with a straight face say the Russians did not set out to influence our election,” she told Colbert.

Asked about critics who have said she should “just go away” in the wake of her election defeat, Clinton said: “Well, you know, if they take up a collection and send me somewhere really nice, I might consider it.”

“I am not going anywhere,” she added.