Hillary Clinton says Meghan Markle's race 'absolutely' contributes to media's coverage of her

Hillary Clinton is once again coming to Meghan Markle's defense amid her battle with British tabloids, saying that race has "absolutely" played a part in media coverage of the Duchess of Sussex.

Several weeks after she first condemned the "inexplicable" treatment of Meghan in the press, the former presidential candidate was asked by BBC Radio 5 Live to elaborate on her opinion and why she sympathizes with the former "Suits" actress.

"I have a great deal of feeling toward and about her, because it's one thing to be told what it will be like when you step onto the biggest stage with the brightest spotlight [and] joining the royal family, becoming president or first lady and his family in our country, and yet it's still really hard to imagine. It takes some getting used to, to have your every move scrutinized and analyzed and, frankly, things made up about," Clinton sounded off. "I really wish her and her husband the very best because they are struggling to have a life of meaning and integrity on their own terms. That's hard enough if you're just walking around in today's world, but if you're on that big of a platform, it's really difficult."

🗣️"Oh my God, I want to hug her!"

Former Presidential candidate and First Lady @HillaryClinton tells @EmmaBarnett she believes the treatment of Meghan has been “heart-breaking and wrong”

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— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) November 12, 2019

SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton sounds off on media treatment of Meghan Markle: 'Shame on everybody'

Host Emma Barnett then asked if the former first lady, who was being interviewed alongside her daughter, Chelsea, thought that "gender and race are coming together" in the coverage of the duchess, to which she quickly agreed.

"Absolutely. I don't think there's any doubt of it," she proclaimed. "I think even if you go back and look at social media from the time the engagement was announced, race was clearly an element in it. And to think that some of your, what we would call 'mainstream media,' actually allowed that to be printed in their pages -- amplified! -- was heartbreaking and wrong."

The former secretary of state seemingly dismissed any accusation that Meghan "asked for" such divisive media coverage by joining the royal family because, as Clinton said, "people don't choose who they fall in love with - they [just] fall in love!"

"She is an amazing young woman, she has an incredible life story, she has stood up for herself, she has made her own way in the world and then she falls in love and he falls in love with her," she added. "Everybody should be celebrating that, because it is a true love story. You can just look at them and see that."

She finished by saying that her motherly instincts have kicked in as she's watched Meghan's public turmoil unfold over the last several years and explaining that her ability to deal and cope with such the treatment that she's received will improve with time.

"I feel, as a mother, I just want to my arms around her. Oh, my god, I want to hug her!" she said. "I want to tell her to hang in there, [and] don't let the bad guys get you down. Keep going, do what you think is right. You know, it's not easy. And there are some techniques that can be learned along the way, some humor, some deflection, whatever. Which I'm sure that she will come to, but it is tough what she is going through, and I think she deserves a lot better."