Despite emphasizing her government experience to persuade voters, Hillary Clinton had trouble explaining why the Middle East is "a mess" after her years as secretary of state at the CNN Town Hall Monday, NBC’s Chuck Todd said Tuesday.
"You know, she doesn't have a good answer, and it doesn't help right now that the current national security situation in the Middle East is a mess. So I think it only helps reinforce the Sanders charge, especially with Democratic voters." Todd said, referring to Bernie Sanders’s criticism that judgment matters just as much as experience.
"Experience is important, but judgment is also important," Sanders said at the town hall and cited Clinton’s vote to authorize the Iraq war in 2002.
In 2011, Clinton also supported an intervention effort to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi, which she has called "smart power at its best." However, a recent U.N. report found that ISIS’ presence has significantly increased in Libya since the ouster. Analysts say that basic living conditions in Libya have also worsened, with "skyrocketing" criminal rates, "no jobs," and scarce "food and electricity."
In addition, Clinton is under investigation for her involvement in the 2012 Benghazi attacks, when four Americans were murdered as the result of poor security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Though she was secretary of state at the time of the attacks, Clinton said Monday that the Benghazi investigation was "partisan" and "media-driven."
"So look, I understand that they [the Republicans] will try to make this an issue. I will continue to answer, and my best defense is the truth, and that’s what you will hear from now until I am elected president," Clinton said.