At a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Monday Hillary Clinton slammed Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Fox News host Megyn Kelly as “outrageous” but said that other Republican men running for president have made equally “offensive” remarks.
“I think the guy went way overboard,” Clinton told reporters, referring to comments Trump made about Kelly after Thursday’s first GOP debate.
Trump unloaded on Kelly in the days after the contest, saying that her questions to him were unfair and that when she was quizzing him “there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
Many believed Trump was making a reference to Kelly’s menstrual cycle. He has since claimed he meant she was bleeding out of her nose or ears. The comments received condemnation from Democrats and many Republicans.
“Offensive, outrageous, pick your adjective,” Clinton said Monday of Trump’s comments. She also defended Kelly she described as “perfectly capable and incredibly impressive.”
But as Clinton has done often regarding Trump’s various controversial statements, the Democratic party favorite sought to compare the billionaire real estate mogul’s remarks to comments from others in the crowded GOP field. She slammed other Republican “men,” but focused particularly on Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
“But I think if we focus on that we are making a mistake,” Clinton said of Trump’s remarks. “What a lot of the men on that stage and that debate said was offensive.”
“When one of their major candidates, a much younger man, a senator from Florida, says there should be no exceptions for rape and incest, that is as offensive and as troubling a comment as you can hear from a major candidate running for the presidency.”
Rubio stated his stance on abortion during Thursday night’s debate.
“I don’t want people to be confused here about the outrageous comments by one and just say ‘we’re focused on this and we’re going to let the fact that there should be no exceptions for rape and incest go unnoticed or unmentioned,'” Clinton added.
This isn’t the first time Clinton has attempted to tie other Republicans to Trump’s statements. After Trump said during his campaign kickoff speech in June that Mexico was sending “rapists” across the border, Clinton drew a line between those remarks and the Republican candidates’ general opposition to a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Clinton’s use of Trump’s statements as a launching pad to attack other Republicans has caused a growing headache for the party establishment. His candid remarks have won him a loyal following among registered Republican voters. But at the same time, he polls poorly against Clinton in a head-to-head match-up. Other Republicans like Rubio, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker poll much closer against her.
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