MONROVIA, Liberia — A close aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton dismissed as “psychobabble” the fuss over the secretary of state’s barbed response to a questioner asking for her famous husband’s opinion instead of her own.
Clinton reacted strongly this week when a Congolese student asked her for the opinion of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, about an international economic issue. The student later said he had meant to ask about President Barack Obama’s opinion.
Asked Thursday about the impact of the widely reported exchange, Clinton was silent, then launched into a glowing assessment of her 10-day tour of seven African nations.
Melanne Verveer, an ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues and a longtime Clinton friend, said Thursday that the episode “was much ado about very little.” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said later that Clinton bristled because the question seemed to seek a male response instead of her view.
