Carly Fiorina: ‘Hillary Clinton Must Not Be President of the United States’

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina warned the New Hampshire Republican Leadership Summit that “Hillary Clinton must not be president,” because she lacks the essential qualities of leadership such as a record of accomplishment, candor and transparency.

“She will pursue a set of policies that will crush possibilities and the potential of this great nation,” Fiorina said.

The former California Senate candidate and likely 2016 contender said she was asked on Fox News earlier in the day whether a woman’s hormones prevented her from serving in the Oval Office.

“Not that we have seen examples ever of a man’s judgment being clouded by hormones, including in the Oval Office,” Fiorina joked. “Hillary Clinton cannot be president of the United States, but not because she is a woman.”

Fiorina contrasted her own history as CEO of the largest technology company in the world with that of Clinton.

“The next occupant of the Oval Office needs to understand how the economy actually works,” she said, adding that “executive decision-making…is making a tough call at a tough time with high stakes for which you are prepared to be held accountable.”

Fiorina described her own life – and that of her husband – as examples of the American dream – a dream she believes Americans see as lost.

“I sense a deep disquiet,” she explained. “People fear we are losing something. What they fear we are losing is the sense of limitless possibility that has always defined this nation…we are losing the core of who we are.”

Fiorina continued:

Our Founders knew that everyone has God-given gifts, and they built a nation on the belief that everyone has the right to find and use their gifts; everyone has the right to fulfill their potential. That’s what they meant when they said life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And they said that that right comes from God and should not be taken away by man or government.

Fiorina criticized the policies of President Obama, particularly with regard to his recent nuclear deal with Iran. Laying out her own negotiating strategy, she set out three rules.

“Rule Number One: know what your goals are, and don’t accept a deal until you’ve achieved those goals,” she began. “The President laid out three very clear goals and we’ve failed to achieve a single one.”

“Rule Number Two: in a negotiation, be prepared to walk away from the table,” she continued. “Final rule: do not celebrate victory until you have the deal you want.”

To a young female college student who asked Fiorina how she would reach out to college students, when so many in her experience say they will vote for Hillary Clinton just because she is a woman, Fiorina first quipped, “Wouldn’t it be good if we gave young women a choice?”

She followed that response, however, with a serious reflection on young people and women and politics.

“A lot of young people and a lot of women actually have disengaged from the political process because they think it has nothing to do with them,” she said. “And, of course, it has everything to do with them.”

Fiorina told her listeners, “It’s not that people don’t care, it’s that they think they don’t count.”