Hillary Rodham Clinton was full of Wright-eous indignation on Tuesday, seeking to change the subject as she fended off criticism of inconsistency in her Bosnian war story.
Clinton had steered clear of the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright Jr until Tuesday — when she second-guessed Obama for not abandoning the Chicago-based minister after learning of his firebrand remarks on race, AIDS and the September 11 attacks.
“He would not have been my pastor,” Clinton told reporters in Greensburg, Pasadena. “You know, we don’t have a choice when it comes to our relatives. We have a choice when it comes to our pastors and the churches we attend ... Everyone will have to decide these matters for themselves. They are obviously very personal matters ... I think the choice would be clear for me.”
The candidate wasn’t the only Clinton on the hot seat on Tuesday. Earlier, daughter Chelsea Clinton bristled when an audience member at a rally in Indianapolis asked her if the Monica Lewinsky scandal damaged her mother’s credibility.
“Wow, you’re the first person actually that’s ever asked me that question in the, I don’t know maybe, 70 college campuses I’ve now been to, and I do not think that is any of your business,” she said before taking another question.
Hillary Clinton has been on the defensive following revelations she exaggerated the personal risks she and Chelsea took during a 1996 goodwill tour of US bases in Bosnia. A week ago, Clinton told reporters in Washington she braved sniper fire during the visit and had to skip a welcoming ceremony on the tarmac because of the danger.
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