Clinton: ‘Are you going to ask him the same question’

Hillary Clinton offered a terse response at Sunday’s debate when CNN host Don Lemon asked why black people should trust her policy decisions on crime if she is elected president.

Lemon’s question was related to Clinton’s support for 1994 legislation that critics argue led to mass incarceration of black men. It was the second time he’d asked her about it.

{mosads}”The question … Secretary Clinton, is why should black people trust you this time to get it right? That’s the question,” Lemon said to Clinton.

Clinton replied, “Well, Sen. Sanders voted for it as well. Are you going to ask him the same question?

Sanders cut in, saying, “Probably will.”

Lemon kicked off the exchange by referring to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act — a controversial bill promoted and signed by then-President Bill Clinton. 

The bill reclassified less serious crimes and, as Lemon pointed out, “a lot of folks in the black community blame the 1994 crime bill … for locking up a generation of black men.”

Clinton replied, “Sen. Sanders voted for that same bill. We both supported it, and I think it’s fair to say we did because back then there was an outcry over the rising crime rate, and people from all communities were asking that action be taken.

“Now, my husband said at the NAACP last summer that it solved some problems, but it created other problems, and I agree.”