Hillary Clinton’s campaign rushed to dismiss her apparent delight at a supporter’s wish to “strangle” Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina during a New Hampshire forum on Tuesday, with a spokesman brushing off the Democratic front-runner’s laughter as a natural response to a joke.
“You were there. What was your take?” Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill tweeted to the press corps, according to CNN’s Dan Merica. “It was a joke.”
The joke in question occurred during a veteran’s forum attended by Clinton on Tuesday, when a supporter — a former Hewlett-Packard employee — spoke about Fiorina, HP’s CEO from 1999 to 2005.
“She says she’s a great CEO,” the man says. “Every time I see her on TV, I want to reach through and strangle her.”
According to video posted by Mediaite, Clinton cracked a smile and laughed for several seconds as guffaws erupted around the room. “I wouldn’t mess with you!” she chuckled, drawing cheers from the audience.
#share#The Republican National Committee released a statement shortly after video of Clinton’s laughter went public. “By laughing off a male questioner’s desire to strangle Carly Fiorina, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats have lost all credibility claiming to be a party that stands up for women,” said RNC spokeswoman Allison Moore. “Jokes about committing acts of violence against women are always in poor taste and should be condemned every time.” She then called on Clinton to apologize.
The media has called attention to some Republican candidates for their failure to address controversial comments made by their supporters during town-hall meetings. Last week, Fiorina did not correct a supporter who called President Obama a “black Muslim.” And in September, Donald Trump came under fire for refusing to express his disagreement with a man who said “Muslims” were a problem in America.
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