Hillary Clinton has described  President Donald Trump’s inauguration speech as a “cry from the white nationalist gut” in her first extended television interview since losing the 2016 presidential election.

Mrs Clinton said attending the President Trump’s inauguration was “like an out-of-body experience”,

“But I’m a former first lady, and former presidents and first ladies show up,” she told CBS News Sunday Morning.

“It’s part of the demonstration of the continuity of our government. And so there I was, on the platform, you know, feeling like an out-of-body experience. And then his speech, which was a cry from the white nationalist gut.”

Mrs Clinton also told CBS that President Trump tapped into a “nostalgia” with his supporters.

“He was quite successful in referencing a nostalgia that would give hope, comfort, settle grievances for millions of people who were upset about gains that were made by others,” she said.

When pressed to identify who Mr Trump was targeting, Mrs Clinton said “Millions of white people, yeah. Millions of white people.” 

“I understood that there were many Americans who, because of the financial crash, there was anger,” she said.

“And there was resentment. I knew that. But I believed that it was my responsibility to try to offer answers to it, not to fan it.

“I think … that was a mistake because a lot of people didn’t want to hear my plans. They wanted me to share their anger. And I should’ve done a better job of demonstrating ‘I get it.'”

Mrs Clinton reiterated  her infamous “basket of deplorables” comment during the campaign, in which she said half of Mr Trump’s supporters are “irredeemable”.

“Trump was behaving in a deplorable manner,” she said, citing the lewd Access Hollywood tape as an example.

“There were a large number of people who didn’t care,” Clinton said.

Sorry Deplorables. He's not only an a-hole he cheats on his wife too. https://t.co/myrxzb2Vxr

— Albert Brooks (@AlbertBrooks) October 7, 2016

Mrs Clinton said she was “gobsmacked” by Mr Trump’s upset victory, but will remain active in politics because of her grave concern that “our country’s future is at stake”.

The interview is the kick off of Clinton’s promo campaign for her forthcoming book What Happened, to be released this week. 

“I just felt this enormous let down, just kind of loss of feeling and direction and sadness,” Clinton said of the election.

“Bill (Clinton) just kept saying, ‘Oh, you know, that was a terrific speech,’ trying to just bolster me a little bit.

“Off I went, into a frenzy of closet cleaning, and long walks in the woods, playing with my dogs, and, as I write- yoga, alternate nostril breathing, which I highly recommend, trying to calm myself down, and you know, my share of Chardonnay.

“It was a very hard transition. I really struggled. I couldn’t feel, I couldn’t think. I was just gobsmacked, wiped out.”