A Tuesday night CNN panel agreed that Seddique Mateen's appearance at a Florida rally directly behind Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was an "embarrassing episode" for the campaign Tuesday.
"This guy is a potential threat to Hillary," John Phillips said. "How could you let someone that unvetted stand that close to a candidate as close as she is as a major party nominee to the presidency? It's unbelievable."
Host Don Lemon called it an "embarrassing episode" and Democratic strategist Basil Smikle said that he did not recognize Mateen immediately and that the events person in charge of the rally probably did not recognize him either.
"My guess is that if someone had or if it came to the attention of someone higher up, they would have said that it's not appropriate," Smikle said.
Mateen claims that he was invited to the rally but the Clinton campaign said that Mateen was not invited but that the event was open to the public. The campaign has also disavowed Mateen's support for Clinton.
"In any ordinary year, this would be an episode that would set the Clinton campaign back at least a week because this is a terrible unforced error," GOP strategist Margaret Hoover said. "I mean really, this should never have happened in a presidential campaign. You vet every single person who appears behind the candidate on stage. That's just how you run campaigns, especially someone as experienced as Hillary Clinton and running for national office."
Hoover added that Clinton won the opponent lottery because Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been giving Clinton enough ammunition for attacks that this embarrassing mistake will get overlooked.
Mateen is the father of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen. The eldest Mateen has claimed that he is Afghanistan's president in exile and and also voiced support for the Taliban.