Clinton accuses Republicans of trying to 'scare voters' over crime

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said the Republican focus on crime ahead of the 2022 midterm elections was clear hypocrisy, telling CNN's Don Lemon that the party is not "concerned about voter safety, they just want to keep voters scared."

Posted 1:10 p.m. Nov 3, 2022 — Updated 1:10 p.m. Nov 3, 2022

Dan Merica

, CNN

CNN — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said the Republican focus on crime ahead of the 2022 midterm elections was clear hypocrisy, telling CNN's Don Lemon that the party is not "concerned about voter safety, they just want to keep voters scared."

Clinton, who will headline her first candidate specific political rally on Thursday night with an event for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, lauded President Joe Biden's efforts to combat inflation as "truly impressive" but said it is "more challenging to get that focus on the future" than to stoke grievance.

Clinton's most pointed attacks for Republicans, however, centered on crime, telling "CNN This Morning" that she found it "ironic" and "frankly disturbing" that Republicans have not been as fervent as calling out the attack on Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, as they have been about making crime a political issue.

Crime has been a dominant issue for Republicans during the 2022 campaign, with the party spending millions to attack their Democratic opponents for being "soft" on the issue or tying them, at times dubiously, to efforts to defund the police. Some ads have featured video of violent crime.

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