--- description: Hillary Clinton made her first substantial criticism of GOP policies at a speech Thursday in New York City title: Clinton Makes First Attacks on GOP image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb18f97189646354/6987ecac5f570f5241b1947e/hillary-clinton10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hillary Clinton Makes First Attacks on GOP by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2015 12:35 AM CUT  Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the Women in the World conference on April 23, 2015, in New York City Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the Women in the World conference on April 23, 2015, in New York CityAndrew Burton—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2015 12:35 AM CUT Hillary Clinton aimed the first substantial attacks of her new candidacy at Republican policies during a speech in New York City on Thursday, criticizing the GOP on immigration, health care and the delayed nomination of [Loretta Lynch to Attorney General](http://time.com/3572553/who-is-loretta-lynch/ "undefined"). “There are those who offer themselves as leaders who would deport mothers working to give their children a better life rather than risk ire of talk radio,” Clinton said at the annual Women in the World conference in Manhattan. “There are those who offer themselves as leaders who even play politics with the nomination of our nation’s chief law-enforcement officer and victims of human-rights trafficking,” Clinton continued to raucous applause from the friendly audience, referring to the months-long delay in Congress over Lynch’s nomination, which ended Thursday. “This is not the way to move America forward. It’s not going to create a single job, raise anyone’s wages or strengthen our families,” she said. Clinton’s keynote address Thursday night at the conference in New York City had been planned before she launched her campaign, a spokesperson for her campaign said. ### See Hillary Clinton's Evolution in 20 Photos  Teenager: Hillary Rodham poses in her 1965 senior class portrait from Park Ridge East High School in Illinois. AP  Law School Student: Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham pose for a snapshot at Yale Law School in 1972\. They married in 1975. Clinton Presidential Library  Mother: Clinton poses with her husband, Bill, then in his first term as governor, with their week-old daughter, Chelsea, on March 5, 1980. Donald R. Broyles—AP  Campaign Companion: Clinton celebrates her husband's victory in a Democratic runoff in Little Rock, Ark. on June 8, 1982. AP  Arkansas First Lady: Clinton is seen in her inaugural ball gown in 1985. A. Lynn—AP  Political Wife: Clinton celebrates her husband's inauguration in Little Rock on Sept. 20, 1991. Danny Johnston—AP  Dignitary: Clinton receives an honorary law degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., on May 30, 1992. Chris Ocken—AP  Campaigner: Clinton speaks at a meeting during the presidential campaign for her husband in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 4, 1992. Bill Sikes—AP  First Lady: Clinton appears at the MTV Inauguration Ball at the Washington Convention Center on Jan. 20, 1993. Shayna Brennan—AP  Second-Term First Lady: Clinton attends the Inaugural Ball after her husband was sworn in to a second term on Jan. 20, 1997. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  New York Senator: Clinton speaks at a press conference with female Democratic senators in Washington on June 21, 2006. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Committee Member: Clinton listens to the testimony of Lt. General David Petraeus to the Senate Armed Forces Committee at a hearing on Capital Hill in Washington on Jan. 23, 2007. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Candidate: Clinton holds a a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., while running for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sept. 2, 2007. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Campaigner: Clinton speaks at a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Jan. 2, 2008. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Secretary of State: Clinton kisses President Obama at a joint session of Congress in Washington on Feb. 24, 2009. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Witness: Clinton joins Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Dec. 3, 2009. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Witness: Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Jan. 23, 2013. J. Scott Applewhite—AP  Author: Clinton attends a signing memoir, "Hard Choices," at a Costco in Arlington, Va., on June 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Grandmother: Clinton holds her granddaughter Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on Sept. 27, 2014. Office of President Clinton/AP  Once and Future Candidate: Clinton speaks at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis With the second week of her candidacy reaching its end, Clinton has thus far avoided attacking Republicans and instead focused on her small-grain campaign rollout in Iowa and New Hampshire, where she spoken at roundtables, visited factories and local businesses. **_Read more_**_:_ [_How New Hampshire’s Women Paved the Way for Hillary Clinton_](http://time.com/3830816/hillary-clinton-new-hampshire-women/ "undefined") When Republicans last weekend impugned Clinton for [controversies surrounding her philanthropies](http://time.com/3831794/clinton-allies-knock-down-donor-allegations-new-questions-pop-up/ "undefined") acceptance of foreign donations, she called the attacks “distractions.” Clinton said earlier this week in New Hampshire she wants to rise above partisan attacks during her campaign. “I am tired of people running to elect their fellow citizens by being nasty to each other,” she said at a house party in Claremont, New Hampshire. “That doesn’t solve a problem. Enough with the attacks and the anger, let’s find answers together and figure out what we’re going to do.” Now, however, as her campaign ramps up, Clinton appears ready to offer more direct criticism over GOP policies. “We have to have leaders who recognize that the time has come. There are those who offer themselves as leaders who see nothing wrong with denying women equal pay,” Clinton said, “or would defund the country’s leading provider of family planning, and want to let health insurance companies charge women once again just because of our gender” — a reference to Republican efforts to defund Obamacare. “It isn’t leadership,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3833801/hillary-clinton-immigration-obamacare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3833801/hillary-clinton-immigration-obamacare/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton Makes First Attacks on GOP","datePublished":"2015-04-24T00:35:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:25.088Z","description":"\"It is not leadership,\" she said","url":"https://time.com/3833801/hillary-clinton-immigration-obamacare/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb18f97189646354/6987ecac5f570f5241b1947e/hillary-clinton10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb18f97189646354/6987ecac5f570f5241b1947e/hillary-clinton10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the Women in the World Conference on April 23, 2015 in New York City.","caption":"Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the Women in the World Conference on April 23, 2015 in New York City.","creditText":"Andrew Burton—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3833801/hillary-clinton-immigration-obamacare/","name":"Hillary Clinton Makes First Attacks on GOP"}}]}] ```