Responding to a question about God and religion at the CNN Democratic debate on Sunday, Hillary Clinton gave a thoughtful answer on how prayer factors into her daily life.
Watch: Hillary Clinton’s open, heartfelt response on God and prayer
A woman named Denise, whose church services Clinton has apparently visited, asked Clinton to whom, and for whom, she prays.
“I have said many times that I am a praying person, and if I hadn’t been during the time I was in the White House, I would have become one,” Clinton said, to chuckles from the crowd.
She added that she prays for people in authority who have to deal with the pressures of leadership.
“I try to think about what they’re going through even when I disagree with them,” Clinton said. “Trying to find some common ground, some common understanding that perhaps can make me more empathetic. I don’t always succeed. I will tell you that.”
She said she prays “on a pretty regular basis during the day, because I need that strength and I need that support.”
She closed by discussing the importance of “humility” when you’re asking people to give you one of the most important jobs in the world.
Clinton has spoken before on the campaign trail about the importance of “love and kindness.” Ruby Cramer explored how this idea relates to Clinton’s Methodist faith and her frequent image problems in the media in a profile at BuzzFeed News earlier this year.
By Jeff Stein
By Dara Lind and Libby Nelson
