Kerry facing foreign diplomats' hard questions on 2016 vote
US Secretary of State John Kerry has called this year’s presidential election “embarrassing,” saying his job as the country’s top diplomat has become more difficult.
“There are moments when it is downright embarrassing,” Kerry told students at an event with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during a visit to Britain on Monday. “This election has been difficult for our country's perception abroad.”
He made the remarks as the campaigns of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton were struggling with several controversies.
Trump has been under fire over his lewd and humiliating remarks about women while Clinton has been getting a lot of flak over her use of a private email during her tenure as secretary of state.
Last month, a 2005 audiotape was released of Trump's comments about groping and kissing women without consent, which profoundly affected his campaign.
Clinton’s favorability has also decreased dramatically since FBI Director James Comey's Friday move, which has led to revival of an investigation into Clinton's email scandal.
Meanwhile, the business mogul has called the country’s election process “rigged”, with Clinton saying that he is straying into authoritarianism.
"There are times when it steps out of any norm that I've known -- and I ran for president in 2004,” Kerry said. "I could never imagine debates that were not focused on real issues, so it's been a real change.”
“The way it's made it difficult for me is that, you know, when you sit down with some foreign ministers in another country, or a prime minister of another country, and you say 'hey, you know we really want you to move more authoritatively towards democracy', they look at you...They're polite but you can see the question in their head and in their eyes and in their expression. It's hard."
According to an ABC News/Washington Post Tracking Poll released Monday, 59 percent of registered voters have an unfavorable view of Clinton, and an identical percentage of voters dislike Trump.
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