Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is facing a backlash from Republicans for laughing at a campaign-event questioner’s comment about wanting to “strangle” GOP candidate Carly Fiorina.
The comment was made Tuesday at a roundtable event in New Hampshire by a male attendee who identified himself as a Hewlett-Packard employee laid off at the time Fiorina ran the company and cut tens of thousands of jobs.
“She laid off over 40,000 people, and she says she’s a great CEO," he said. "Every time I see her on TV, I want to reach through and strangle her. I know that doesn’t sound very nice.”
Other audience members laughed along with Clinton, who also said: “I wouldn’t mess with you.”
The Republican National Committee said Tuesday afternoon that Clinton and fellow Democrats “have lost all credibility claiming to be a party that stands up for women,” as a result of the question being “laughed off.”
“It’s clear women just can’t count on Hillary Clinton to stand up for them,” RNC Press Secretary Allison Moore said in a statement. “She should apologize immediately.”
Clinton declined Tuesday to respond to a reporter’s question about whether she thought the man was serious but shook her head to indicate she didn’t.
“You were there,” campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said to the reporter. “What was your take? It was a joke."
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