Hillary Clinton weighed in on Rush Limbaugh's recent controversial comments, condemning the conservative radio host's "verbal assault" on women like Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke and calling for a "return to civility" from all sides of the political spectrum.
During an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that aired Monday, the Secretary of State discussed the backlash to Limbaugh's characterization of Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute."
"As a woman and as someone who can be can vaguely remember being a young woman, and as a mother of a young woman of that age and generation, I thought the response was very encouraging," she said. "The response from the public, the response from women cutting across all kinds of categories, the response from advertisers, so I'll let that speak for itself."
While Clinton declined to discuss the controversy's connection to the 2012 presidential campaign, she said that Limbaugh's attacks on women have no place in the public arena.
"We as a nation have every right, and in fact I welcome it, to engage in the kind of debate and dialogue that is at the root of who we are as Americans," she said. "But let's not turn into personal attacks and insults. We're beyond that, we're better than that, and people in the public eye have a particular responsibility to avoid that."
Mitchell also asked Clinton about her daughter's appearance on a panel with Fluke. During the panel, Chelsea Clinton pointed out that she too had been attacked by Limbaugh when she was 13 years old.
"I think we need to call people out when they go over the line," the Secretary of State said in reference to Limbaugh's comments about Fluke and her own daughter. "They're entitled to their opinion, but no one is entitled to engage in that kind of verbal assault. Let's keep it on the issues."