Hillary Clinton strangely defended her Wall Street connections during the second Democratic presidential debate by invoking the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
"I did spend a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild. That was good for New York. It was good for the economy and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists who had attacked our country."
Figures from both parties criticized the farfetched remark.
"Hillary Clinton had a disastrous night, shirking blame for her failed foreign policy's role in creating ISIS and attempting to spin away her blatant hypocrisy by invoking the attacks of 9/11," said Charlie Szold, spokesman for Iowa GOP.
Liberals weren't happy with Clinton's comment either. Clinton's Democratic opponent Gov. Martin O’Malley called it the “biggest gaffe of the night” and former Obama adviser David Axelrod asked if it would "fly" with voters.
Instead of distancing herself from the controversy, in an interview with CBS’ Charlie Rose, Clinton gave her critics more ammunition by using the tragedy to justify her cozy Wall Street connections yet again.
"I have stood for a lot of regulation on big banks and on the financial services sector. I also represented New York and represented everybody from the dairy farmers to the fishermen...And so, yes, do I know people? And did I help rebuild after 9/11? Yes, I did," Clinton said.
Try as she might, Clinton can’t escape her Wall Street shadow - no matter what odd story she narrates.