Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had a made-for-TV moment of solidarity at the Democratic debate Tuesday, shaking hands and declaring to a standing ovation that controversy over Clinton’s email is much ado about nothing.
“I’ve taken responsibility for it. I did say it was a mistake,” Clinton said of her use of a personal email server during her time as Secretary of State. “I have been as transparent as I know to be, turning over 55,000 pages of my e-mails, asking that they be made public.”
Clinton went on to blast the congressional committee investigating the matter, calling it “an arm of the Republican National Committee” and a “partisan vehicle,” noting recent statements made by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that it had succeeded in hurting her poll numbers. She went on to say she’d rather spend the debate talking about “the issues that matter to the American people.”
Sanders chimed in: “I think the Secretary is right. And that is I think the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”
Underdog Lincoln Chafee, however, was eager to pile on. “There’s an issue of American credibility out there,” he said. “So any time someone is running to be our leader, and a world leader, which the American president is, credibility is an issue out there with the world.”
Asked if she wanted to respond, Clinton simply replied: “No.”
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