Hillary: I'm Secretary of State, Not Bill

By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 10, 2009 7:31 PM CDT
Hillary: I'm Secretary of State, Not Bill
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, right, is greeted by members of the government on arrival at the airport in Kinshasa, Congo Monday, Aug. 10, 2009.   (AP Photo/Etienne Kokolo)

A visibly annoyed Hillary Clinton bristled today when—as she heard it—a Congolese university student asked what her husband thought about an international financial matter, the AP reports. "My husband is not secretary of state, I am," she snapped. "If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband."

CNN notes that the student had actually asked what President Obama thought, but the translator instead asked: "What does Mr. Clinton think through the mouth of Mrs. Clinton?" Assistant Secretary PJ Crowley said the encounter "struck a nerve," especially when viewed in the context of her trip. "If Africa, if Congo is going to advance, women have to play a more significant role. The questioner was interested in what two men thought."
(More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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