Clinton says GOP is trying to 'keep voters scared' with focus on crime

Former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton believes the Republican focus on crime in the upcoming midterms is intended to "keep voters scared," she told CNN Thursday.

Speaking to anchor Don Lemon, Clinton said the GOP is not "concerned about voter safety," and just wants to "gin up all kinds of fear and anxiety in people."

"They are not dealing with it. They are not trying to tackle it. So I view it as an effort to scare voters," she told Lemon. Yes crime is an issue, Clinton conceded, but the Republican party doesn't "want to solve a problem, whether it is crime, inflation or anything else, they just want an issue."

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Clinton also denounced the Republican response to the assault on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) husband, Paul, who suffered a fracture to his skull and injuries to his hands after an intruder broke into the couple's California home and attacked him. Clinton said she found it "ironic" and "frankly disturbing" that some Republicans so focused on crime haven't vehemently denounced the incident. It's "sadly a real indicator of where we are in our country right now," she continued, in particular taking issue with Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) and what appeared to be a recent joke she made at Paul Pelosi's expense. (Lake denies making light of the attack and said her comments were taken out of context.)

As for Democrats' midterms chances, Clinton sounded confident the party could prevail so long as voters show up. "A midterm election is always difficult for the party in power," she said. "So our job is to convince our voters to turn out because if they turnout, then there is no doubt we will win."