Voter tells Hillary Clinton he wants to strangle Carly Fiorina
A voter in New Hampshire told Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that he wants to "strangle" Republican candidate Carly Fiorina when he sees her on TV, prompting Clinton to laugh and tell the man, "I wouldn't mess with you."
Clinton was laying out her plans to help veterans and military families at a VFW hall in Derry, New Hampshire Tuesday when she fielded a question from the man, who said he used to work at Hewlett Packard. He was laid off while Fiorina was CEO.
"I saw friends of mine that had over 20 years in digital in Hewlett Packard lose their homes, their marriages broke up because of the stress and strain that they were under and to see this woman say she grew the company three times...that's not growing a company when you absorb two other companies. And then she laid off over 40,000 people and she says she's a great CEO. Every time I see her on TV I want to reach through and strangle her," the man said. "I know that doesn't sound very nice."
As the audience chuckled in response, Clinton joined in with the laughter.
"I wouldn't mess with you!" she told the man, without commenting further on his desire to strangle Fiorina.
"I can tell when she's lying because her lips are moving, you know? It's ridiculous with this woman. And then to see her say that you're a liar really upsets me," the man continued.
"Well unfortunately that's the political season we're in," Clinton responded, before going back to part of his question that dealt with Social Security.
Republican candidates have occasionally come under fire the way they responded to extreme comments by voters at campaign events. Clinton herself called out businessman Donald Trump because he didn't correct a voter who said that President Obama was Muslim and not born in America during a September event.
After the event, a reporter asked Clinton if she took the man seriously. She did not respond, but shook her head "no."
Spokesman Nick Merrill said, "You were there. What was your take? It was a joke."
Republican National Committee Press Secretary Allison Moore said in a statement, "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. Jokes about committing acts of violence against women are always in poor taste and should be condemned every time."