Politics

Change on Hillary Clinton's Website Raises Questions

August 15th 2016

A deleted line from Hillary Clinton's campaign website's page on campus sexual assault is raising eyebrows.

Clinton's site used to read, “I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault: Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard. You have the right to be believed, and we’re with you," which is a quote from the candidate, the Hill reports.

But in February, the words "You have the right to be believed" — also tweeted by Clinton in September — were deleted from the site.

In a recent report, Buzzfeed observed that the change occurred around the same time when a tweet from Juanita Broaddrick — a woman who alleges Bill Clinton sexually assaulted her in 1978 — was widely circulated online.

At an October campaign event, Clinton was asked if her stance that victims of sexual assault "should be believed" applied to the women who have accused her husband, Bill Clinton, of sexual assault over the years, ABC News reported.

“You recently came out to say that all rape victims should be believed?" asked a member of the audience. "But would you say that about Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, and Paula Jones? Should we believe them as well?”

“Well, I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence,” Clinton replied.

Though Broaddrick has said her comments aren't politically motivated, she hasn't kept it a secret that she plans to vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump rather than Clinton.

Broaddrick recently answered questions on the subreddit dedicated to Trump, Reddit.com/r/the_donald.

Trump — who has called Bill Clinton “the worst abuser of women in the history of politics” and referred to Hillary Clinton as an "enabler" who "treated these women horribly" — featured a clip from a 1999 Dateline interview with Broaddrick in a May campaign ad.

Regardless of Broaddrick's motivations, the Clinton campaign's relative silence surrounding her allegations and those from other women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault is noteworthy in the context of the Clinton's statements in solidarity with sexual assault victims.

Clinton has already faced harsh criticism about her 'Bill problem' from conservative news outlets over the course of her presidential bid. Whether she will have to address them openly in upcoming debates or face questions from mainstream media remains to be seen.

Broaddrick's allegations also raise a more complicated question: to what degree should Hillary Clinton have to answer for her husband's decisions? Bill Clinton has acted as an outspoken surrogate in Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign as well as her failed 2008 presidential bid. But it is perhaps unfair to ask her to answer for all of her husband's political and personal choices.

Buzzfeed reports that the Clinton campaign declined to comment on the change to the website.

ATTN: has reached out to the Hillary Clinton campaign for comment. We will update this post when we hear back.

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