Gov. Jerry Brown says Hillary Clinton must slay email controversy

Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday that the controversy over Hillary Clinton’s emails is “almost like a vampire” and the presidential candidate needs to “find a stake and put it right through the heart.”

He made the comments during an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd. A clip from the interview, which will be aired in its entirety on Sunday morning, was posted on Friday afternoon.

“This email thing, it has kind of a mystique to it,” Brown said. “You know, an email is just an utterance in digital form. But it has some kind of dark energy that gets everybody excited.”

The governor added, “It’s almost like a vampire. She’s going to have to find a stake and put it right through the heart of these emails in some way.”

Brown, who ran for president three times and in April released some of his personal emails, declined to share any advice with Clinton during the interview.

“I don’t think a leading candidate for president needs the advice of another politician,” he said. “Generally they don’t follow it, and I think they know everything I can figure out on their own.”

In May, Brown told the Washington Post that Clinton has a strong path to the Democratic nomination.

“I really believe that Hillary Clinton has the presence, the experience and the support of the vast majority of Democrats in a way that I have not seen in my lifetime,” he said. “She has this if she wants.”

Follow @chrismegerian for more updates from Sacramento.