Carly Fiorina says Hillary Clinton is ‘demonstrably bad for women’ (video)

Carly Fiorina had her second showing on the main GOP debate stage Wednesday night after being promoted from the so-called kids table for her strong performance in the party's first 2016 forum. Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, took a question about the pay gap as an opportunity to condemn Hillary Rodham Clinton’s policies and slam Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, as “bad for women.”

“It is the height of hypocrisy for Mrs. Clinton to talk about being the first woman president when every single policy she espouses, and every single policy of President Obama, has been demonstrably bad for women,” she declared. “Ninety-two percent of the jobs lost during Barack Obama's first term belonged to women.

“Three million women have fallen into poverty under this administration,” she continued, echoing Sen. Ted Cruz, who made a similar assertion. “The number of women living in extreme poverty is the highest level on record.”

Watch:

The jobs figure is a throwback to one of Mitt Romney’s campaign talking points from 2012 -- one that has been debunked. This year, NPR tackled the poverty rate claim after Jeb Bush made it, and found that, like the jobs number, the real answer is a bit more complicated than “it’s Obama’s fault.” The poverty rate in America has effectively stagnated over the last two years, though it is at a record high.

Some Twitter users seemed skeptical that Clinton, who supports Planned Parenthood, equal pay legislation and paid family leave, is bad for women.

But some supported her, including actress and conservative commentator Stacey Dash:

Hillary Clinton’s camp tweeted a rebuttal:

In her closing statement, Fiorina referred to herself as “Hillary Clinton’s worst nightmare.“ She said that, deep down, viewers want to see the two female candidates go head-to-head in a debate.

She’s certainly not wrong about that.

Follow Jessica Roy on Twitter @jessica_roy.