"My husband is not secretary of state, I am"

Hillary Clinton gets a question about her husband's foreign policy views, and isn't happy about it

Published August 10, 2009 8:55PM (EDT)

Between talk that she's been shut out of real power in the administration and the new focus on her husband after his trip to North Korea, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reason to be a little bit on edge. And she is, apparently, as she displayed some frustration on Monday.

The person who brought it out of the secretary of state wasn't an American reporter or pundit dealing in the usual speculation about the Clintons; it was a Congolese student.

Clinton was at a town hall forum in the Democratic Republic of Congo when one audience member asked her for Bill Clinton's thoughts on a foreign policy matter.

"My husband is not secretary of state. I am," she responded, according to the Associated Press. "You want me to tell you what my husband thinks? If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband."


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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