“Imagine, Rachel, that you had one of the Democratic nominees for 2020 on your show, and that person said, you know, the only other adversary of ours who is anywhere near as good as the Russians is China,” Clinton told Maddow. “So why should Russia have all the fun? And since Russia is clearly backing Republicans, why don’t we ask China to back us?”

“And not only that, China, if you’re listening, why don’t you get Trump’s tax returns?” Clinton continued. “I’m sure our media would richly reward you.”

Her phrasing echoed a statement by Donald Trump about Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 campaign. “Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” he said at a July news conference in Florida. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”