Clinton again invokes 9/11 to justify Wall Street ties

Dec. 1, 2015: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets and gives a thumbs-up to Fred Gray, Rosa Parks former attorney, before speaking at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. (AP)

Hillary Clinton again invoked the 9/11 terror attacks to justify her ties to Wall Street despite coming under heavy criticism for previously making a similar connection in the most recent Democratic debate.

Clinton was asked in a CBS News interview that aired Monday whether she feared that her ties to Wall Street could hurt her image ahead of the 2016 election.

"I have stood for a lot of regulation on big banks and on the financial services sector. I also represented New York and represented everybody from the dairy farmers you know to the fishermen. Everybody,” Clinton said.

“And so, yes, do I know people and did I, you know, help rebuild after 9/11? Yes, I did. But that has nothing to do with my positions," she said.

Clinton’s comments echoed controversial remarks she made at the Nov. 14 Democratic presidential primary debate. She invoked the aftermath of the attacks after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders repeatedly criticized her for taking money from the financial sector and questioned whether she had the independence to overhaul the industry.

“I represented New York, and I represented New York on 9/11 when we were attacked,” Clinton pointed out. “Where were we attacked? We were attacked in downtown Manhattan where Wall Street is. I did spend a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild. That was good for New York."

The Democratic front-runner took heat for the comments. Even Clinton’s former 2008 campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, questioned the 9/11 reference following the debate.

“I do think that the 9/11 reference was probably better used when she was talking about terrorism. She was the senator when the 9/11 attacks happened. She was the senator when we needed to rebuild that city. And it would have been more powerful talking about terrorism,” she told CNN after the debate.

In the latest interview, Clinton also told CBS’ Charlie Rose that she "cannot conceive of any circumstances" in which, as president, she would put troops on the ground in Syria or Iraq.

"Well, at this point, I cannot conceive of any circumstances where I would agree to do that because I think the best way to defeat ISIS is, as I've said, from the air, which we lead, on the ground, which we enable, empower, train, equip, and in cyberspace where, don't forget, they are a formidable adversary online," Clinton said.