Former President Donald Trump insists he did not really want to through his 2016 opponent in jail because he believed it would be bad for the country.

During an interview with Newsmax, Trump was asked about a viral moment from one of his debates with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when he made a quip about putting her in jail as president.

“It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” Clinton said at the time.

Trump fired back, “Because you’d be in jail.”

Newsmax host Greg Kelly said, “I think you locked up the election with that moment. But you didn’t follow through on that. Yet, they are trying to put you in jail. Now, my question is, you were asked about that. You said, ‘Look, these are good people. I don’t want to hurt them.’ And I kind of thought that was a very honorable thing to say.”

He asked, “What happens if you become president again regarding them and the rest?”

Listen to the exchange below:

Trump responded, “Well, let me tell you, I didn’t want to. I thought it would be a terrible thing, and there were opportunities, obviously, and good, strong control. Everything was good, but I did not want to. And I thought it would be a terrible thing for our country.”

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“They don’t care. These people are radical lunatics. They don’t care and they have to be very careful with what they’re doing because it comes back to bite,” he continued. “And you’re right about it… Putting her– that would’ve been a horrible thing to do, I thought. But they don’t mind doing it.”

The interview comes as Trump is facing 88 criminal charges and a trial in New York City for hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.