Hillary Clinton blamed the rise and growth of the Islamic State on Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad during the Democratic presidential debate on Saturday night after calling Syria's ruler a "reformer" four years earlier when she was secretary of state.
Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation in March of 2011 as the Syrian civil war was beginning, then-secretary of state Clinton explained how many members of Congress from both parties thought of Assad as a reformer, and she spoke positively of him.
As the conflict in Syria, which began when Assad tried to repress domestic protestors with military force, continued to grow in scale, the ISIS jihadist group was able to gain a foothold in Syria. ISIS has terrorized the Middle East and swelled in power and influence since the beginning of 2014.
Rebel forces inside Syria continued to try to fight Assad, and his regime eventually used chemical weapons on his own citizens and killed 250,000 people up to this point in the civil war, causing Clinton to change her position on Assad.
The Democratic frontrunner has said that Assad should be removed from power, but the main priority is to focus on defeating ISIS.