Joel Benenson: Race, Comey Played Into Clinton's Loss

Hillary Clinton campaign strategist Joel Benenson, who was part of the contentious arguments at Harvard University Thursday concerning the 2016 presidential campaign, contended Friday that Donald Trump's campaign thrived through racial bias.

"Part of the discussion revolved around them saying media bias," Benenson told CNN's "New Day" program, pointing out that even House Speaker Paul Ryan called Trump's comments about presiding over his Trump University case the "definition of a racist statement."

Further, he said, Trump's campaign manager, now the White House chief strategist, had said his news outlet Breitbart Media was "the platform for the alt-right, which is a movement that has promoted [white supremacy]."

Benenson also contended Friday that exit polls back up his belief that race played into the election.

"In six key states, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, 20 percent to 30 percent believe minorities are favored in this country," said Benenson. "Donald Trump talked about how badly minorities were treated and said you have been forgotten, you have been left out. Of those people in each of those states they voted between 7-1 and 10-1 for Donald Trump."

He also told CNN that Trump as a candidate "talked about banning people from this country because of their religion," and such statements struck a "chord with some people."

"He never backed away and said I should not have said any of these things," Benenson said. "He is the president-elect right now. He has the responsibility to show moral leadership. When people like they did in Washington, D.C., a few weeks ago, you know, deliver the Nazi salute blocks from the White House, he should be denouncing them by name and calling them out. He should be saying the Ku Klux Klan should not be celebrating."

FBI Director James Comey's last minute statements on Clinton's email server issues also played into Trump's hand, said Benenson.

"What we saw after Comey's first statement on that Friday was our defectors drifted right back to third-party candidates," said Benenson. "We were not able to get them back in the last 11 days and I think it was a significant factor."