After frequently attacking each other, Republican presidential candidates focused their attacks on Hillary Clinton in the early stages of the debate Thursday evening in Charleston, arguing her mishandling of sensitive material on a private server should disqualify her from the presidency.
“Someone who cannot handle intelligence information appropriately cannot be commander in chief,” Sen. Marco Rubio said. “And someone who lies to the families of those four victims in Benghazi can never be president of the United States.”
Former Gov. Jeb Bush suggested Clinton would be distracted by the open FBI investigation into her email server, precluding her from serving as president.
“You know what, here’s the problem. If she gets elected, she’s under investigation with the FBI right now,” Bush said. “If she gets elected, her first 100 days, instead of setting an agenda, she might be going back and forth between the White House and the courthouse. We need to stop that.”
Candidates worked to tie Clinton to the most unpopular aspects of President Obama’s foreign policy Thursday evening, arguing Clinton would leave the country vulnerable to attacks from abroad.
“Hillary Clinton would be a national security disaster,” Bush said. “Think about it: she wants to continue down the path of Iran, Benghazi, the Russian reset, Dodd-Frank, all the things that have gone wrong in this country.”
Gov. Chris Christie said he would outline a tougher foreign policy than Obama or Clinton, who he painted as an identical successor to Obama.
“If you’re worried about the world being on fire, you’re worried about how we’re going to use our military, you’re worried about strengthening our military, you’re worried most of all about keeping your homes and your families safe and secure, you cannot give Hillary Clinton a third term of Barack Obama’s leadership,” Christie said.
