Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that it was “deeply distressing” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) would link her polling performance with the select committee on the Benghazi attacks.
McCarthy, who is vying to replace outgoing House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), took pride in the House Select Committee on Benghazi’s effect on Clinton’s presidential campaign in a Tuesday night interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” McCarthy told Hannity. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable [sic]. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.”
Clinton reacted to those comments an interview set to air Sunday on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation.”
“When I hear a statement like that, which demonstrates unequivocally that this was always meant to be a partisan political exercise, I feel like it does a great disservice and dishonors not just the memory of the four that we lost, but everybody that has served our country,” Clinton told host Al Sharpton.
Clinton added that she found McCarthy’s comments “deeply distressing.” She said that she personally knew the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, who died in the attacks. Clinton also questioned the merits of the committee, pointing to the eight previous congressional investigations, in addition to an independent investigation, that probed the attacks.
“We have learned all we can learn about what we need to do to protect our diplomats and other civilians and we need to be enforcing and implementing those changes,” she said.
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This post has been updated.
