‘My husband is NOT Secretary of State - I am!': Hillary Clinton's outburst at African student after week of Bill stealing limelight



She has dealt with questions about her husband's private life with good grace.

She even kept smiling last week when the former president stole her thunder by securing the release of two American journalists during a high-profile trip to North Korea.

But Hillary Clinton decided enough was enough when she was asked what her husband Bill thought about a foreign policy issue.

'I'm the Secretary of State': Hillary Clinton gestures to make her point during the session in Kinshasa

Mrs Clinton's outburst has made headlines around the world



'You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?' she snapped back at her questioner.



‘My husband is not Secretary of State. I am,’ she raged after a translator made a mistake and asked what her partner felt about an international matter.

Mrs Clinton, who was speaking at a meeting in the Congolese capital Kinshasa during her first official tour of Africa, looked clearly rattled.

‘You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?’ she replied incredulously when the male student asked her what ‘Mr Clinton’ thought of World Bank concerns about a multibillion-dollar Chinese loan offer to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

‘If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channelling my husband.’

See video of Mrs Clinton's outburst here





The question was left unanswered as the moderator of the event quickly moved on.



The translator should have asked what 'Mr Obama' thought as the student's question was actually about Barack Obama, not Bill Clinton.



Sidelined for weeks after she was injured during a fall this spring, Mrs Clinton returned to a flurry of speculation that she had been shoved to the side as a diplomatic force.

Commentators said she had been overshadowed by globe-trotting President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a bevy of heavyweight special envoys assigned to the world’s critical hotspots.

Mrs Clinton is greeted by members of the government on arrival at the airport in Kinshasa, Congo yesterday - the latest in an 11-day journey through Africa

Mrs Clinton launched into a series of high-profile speeches and television appearances. But just as she landed in Africa, her ambitious visit ran into stiff competition from her husband’s secret mission to North Korea.

He was praised for his role in freeing the two American journalists and talking with the regime’s leader, Kim Jong Il.

And if previous spats are anything to go by, the Clintons are certain to face further speculation about the state of their marriage.

Divorce rumours peaked in the 1990s when Mr Clinton was in the White House and faced accusations that he had an ‘improper relationship’ with secretary Monica Lewinsky.



Headline grabber: Bill Clinton meets North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il

Last year commentators speculated again after Mrs Clinton’s failed White House run was said to have been derailed by her husband’s intemperate outbursts.

Since then, however, But Mr Clinton had – until last week’s foreign foray - kept himself unnoticed and allowed his wife as much limelight as she could garner.

And over the last month she has been grabbing headlines with a major foreign policy address in Washington and travels to India and Thailand.

She is in the middle of a marathon 11-day tour of Africa, so far visiting seven nations.

Her gruelling schedule includes official meetings and private events that have kept her busy from sunrise to well after sunset.