The former secretary of state rejects quip by Republican presidential candidate and lists ceasefire between Israel and Hamas among achievements

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Hillary Clinton has dismissed attacks upon her during Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate as political rhetoric and defended her track record in government after it came in for the most fierce criticism of the night from the only other woman in the race for the White House, Carly Fiorina.

“I’m very proud of it,” Clinton said of her time as secretary of state in the Obama administration, in an interview on Thursday on CNN.

Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, mocked Clinton at the debate in California on Wednesday by saying: “If you want to stump a Democrat, ask them about Hillary Clinton’s accomplishments as secretary of state.”

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It raised a chuckle from the audience, but only a wry smile from Clinton on Thursday.

“If anyone is interested, there is a long list of what I’ve done and I’m very proud of it,” she said.

Clinton itemized: “orchestrating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and putting together the coalition that led to international sanctions against Iran” as the top items on her list.

This was just the usual back and forth political attacks Hillary Clinton

She noted that the 11 candidates on the main stage of the debate on Wednesday did not talk about subjects that she prioritizes, such as affordable college fees, equal pay for women and “raising the incomes of hard-working people.”

She told CNN that she had not watched the entire debate, which lasted an unusually long three hours, but had seen enough to know she was unimpressed.

“This was just the usual back and forth political attacks. The kind of things you get when you are on a debate stage and you don’t have much to say. This was just the silly season,” she said.

She added that she is looking forward to the debate when the Republicans “get around to working out who is their nominee” of the 15 individuals who debated on Wednesday – 11 in the main debate and the four trailing furthest in the polls in the secondary debate.

Clinton laughed when she was asked about New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s assertion during the debate that if he was president he would ensure Clinton was prosecuted for using a private email server for all her emails while serving as secretary of state.

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“This is just over-heated rhetoric and baseless charges and it does not deserve any comment,” Clinton said.

But pushed on why she took so long to apologize for what she has now acknowledged was a mistake, she said she had been “trying to explain”.

“It was clear that I shouldn’t have used two different emails. I have said I’m sorry. I have taken responsibility,” she said.

One of the most pointed attacks on her at Wednesday’s debate involved Carly Fiorina taking an aggressive stance against funding for the women’s healthcare and family planning clinic group Planned Parenthood, in which she evoked a series of controversial videos that anti-abortion campaigners had alleged showed the group improperly handling fetal tissue destined for research projects, even though doubt has been cast on the videos’ authenticity.

Fiorina asked rhetorically during the debate if Clinton or President Barack Obama had seen the videos, adding: “Shame on you”.



Fiorina opposes federal funding entirely for Planned Parenthood because the group provides abortions, amongst other services. She also wants to enact legislation further restriction legal abortion services in the US.

Clinton pushed back on Thursday, countering that the issue of fetal tissue being used in research “goes beyond Planned Parenthood” and accusing the Republicans – she did not single out Fiorina by name – using “a lot of emotion” to mount an overarching attack on legal abortion.

She pointed out that federal funds are not used by Planned Parenthood for abortions, but for their other health services.

“If they are trying to shut down cancer screening and family planning, well that’s just wrong,” she said.

She pointed out, however, that some Planned Parenthood clinic perform abortions, which is legal.

“I understand that the candidates we heard from last night wish that was not the case. They wish abortion was illegal and they want to turn the clocks back,” she said.