'My friends think you’re dishonest,’ young voter tells Clinton

A young American voter has confronted US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a Democratic forum in Iowa, telling her that his friends do not find her trustworthy.

Democratic front-runner Clinton, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley separately fielded questions from voters in Des Moines at the forum on Monday night.

One young man stood and told Clinton that he doesn’t see the same enthusiasm from his peers for her that he sees for Senator Sanders, Clinton’s main rival in the Democratic primary.  

“In fact, I’ve heard quite a few people my age that think you’re dishonest,” said the questioner, Taylor Gipple.

First, Clinton seemed totally at sea, but then she posed to look confident and noted that she has a strong army of high school students enthusiastically working on her behalf.

But Clinton went on to say that she is not surprised to hear that because Republicans have been attacking her for a long time.  

“If you’re new to politics, if it’s the first time you’ve really paid attention, you go ‘oh my gosh, look at all of this’ and say, ‘why are they throwing all of that at her’?” she responded.

“I’ll tell you why — because I’ve been on the front lines of change and progress since I was your age. I’ve been fighting for kids and women and the people left out and left behind to help them make the most of their lives.”

The former First Lady also said that she’s happy to see young people participating in politics no matter who they’re supporting.

“I’m totally happy to see young people involved in any way,” she said. “That’s what we want — a good primary to pick a nominee and then everybody to join together to make sure we win.”

Senator Sanders, who calls himself a “Democratic socialist,” is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidential election.

Sanders has a slim lead over Clinton in Iowa in an online new poll. According to the CBS News “Battleground Tracker” survey, released on Sunday, Sanders has a 1 point lead over Clinton, 47 to 46 percent.

However, he significantly expanded his lead over Clinton in the key state of New Hampshire. He is now leading the former secretary of state by 19 percentage points in the Granite State.

In a Democratic primary that appears to be tightening, Clinton has escalated its attacks on Sanders over his perceived inexperience with foreign policy.

In an interview with NBC on Sunday, Clinton acknowledged that her competition with Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination has become intensely personal.

“It is very personal,” Clinton said. “People look and they think, you know, 'Can we imagine this person to be president and commander in chief?' And because of my experience, particularly my years as secretary of state, working with President [Barack] Obama, I think that's something that people really take into account.”

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