Reacting to the Bill Clinton question at Sunday night's Democratic presidential debate in Charleston, South Carolina, CNN's Nia Malika Henderson said it is legitimate to ask if Hillary Clinton is such a feminist and advocate for women, especially rape victims, then why did she disparage the women who accused her husband of sexual assault instead of standing up for them?



"The reality is you do have Donald Trump who did bring up this topic about Bill Clinton's infidelities and indiscretions and to me it looks like Republicans want to go somewhere else with this, which is, 'if Hillary Clinton is such a great feminist, if she's such a great role model for women, if she's such a champion of women, then what was her sort of role in demonizing those women or not standing up for them?'" Henderson said.



"I think that would be something that possibly comes up now in a different way because we are in a different period in terms of how we talk about women and how they are treated in the workplace than we were in the '90s," Henderson added.



Last December, Clinton was notably confronted at a campaign event with a question about past allegations of rape against her husband.



"I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved on evidence," Clinton said at the New Hampshire town hall event.



"I think the question about whether or not she played a role in demonizing the women is totally fair game," CNN Washington correspondent Dana Bash said



The network then dropped the conversation to go to live coverage of a debate watch party featuring former President Bill Clinton.