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Tags: rand paul | hillary | clinton | saudi | ties | women | rights

Rand Paul: Hillary's Commitment to Women's Rights Sullied by Saudi Ties

By    |   Sunday, 12 April 2015 01:07 PM EDT

Republican presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul said on Sunday morning's talk shows that Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state casts doubts on her qualifications to be elected president, taking aim at the Democratic favorite hours before her expected campaign announcement.

"There is a history of the Clintons feeling they are above the law," the Kentucky senator, who recently announced his presidential bid, told CNN's "State of the Union"program.

And on CBS' "Face the Nation" program, Paul said that what many perceive to be Clinton's strength — her service as President Barack Obama's secretary of state — is actually her weakness.

"Americans want someone who will defend the country," Paul said. But in Clinton's case, "when her 3 a.m. moment came" that didn't happen, he said, turning her "3 a.m. moment" advertising campaign used in the 2008 race against Obama against her.

Paul told CBS host Bob Schieffer that the 2012 attacks on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, came after nine months of the staff there "begging and pleading" for help, but she did not provide it.

He repeated the criticism over her handling of the attack on both programs, and also brought up questions about foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation, established by her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

The Clinton Foundation's acceptance of contributions from countries like Saudi Arabia, criticized for its strict dress and other rules that discriminate against women, "makes it difficult for her message to appear sincere," Paul said on CNN.

"They said they were not going to take donations for the Clinton Foundation during the period of time she was secretary of state, and there are questions whether they did," Paul said.

And on CBS, he complained that while Clinton portrays herself as a champion of women's issues, "she takes money from countries who abuse women."

Paul told both shows that Clinton's decades in public life, including when her husband was in the White House for eight years, will be be fair game in the upcoming campaign.

On Benghazi, Clinton has defended her decision to have diplomats in dangerous places but noted that incomplete information increased the risk in the Libyan city in 2012.
The Clinton Foundation, best known for reducing the cost of drugs for people with HIV in the developing world, has said collaboration with foreign governments is essential for its humanitarian work.

Moving outside the Clinton issue, Paul also discussed pending agreement with Iran on its nuclear capabilities, telling Schieffer that he prefers negotiations to war.

But Iran's leaders, every time there is news about an agreement, send messages out on Twitter denying the terms of the agreement, which Paul finds damaging.

"I don't want another war, but I want a good agreement," he said on CBS.

Thomson/Reuters contributed to this account

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Sandy Fitzgerald

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

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Republican presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul said on Sunday Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state cast doubt on her qualifications to be president, taking aim at the Democratic favorite hours before her expected campaign announcement. Clinton is expected to...
rand paul, hillary, clinton, saudi, ties, women, rights
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2015-07-12
Sunday, 12 April 2015 01:07 PM
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