Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Tunisian audience that Obama "will be reelected" president, as she talked American politics with a man worried about Republicans pandering to "Zionist lobbies."

"I would say watch what President Obama says and does. He’s our President. He represents all of the United States, and he will be reelected President, so I think that that will be a very clear signal to the entire world as to what our values are and what our President believes," Clinton said at an event with young Tunisians yesterday.

She was responding to an audience question about why an "enemy" of the "Zionist lobbies" should trust the United States. "We noticed here in Tunisia that most of the candidates from the both sides [sic] run towards the Zionist lobbies to get their support in the States," a man named Ivan said to Clinton. "And afterwards, once they are elected, they come to show their support for countries like Tunisia and Egypt for a common Tunisian or a common Arab citizen. How would you reassure and gain his trust again once given the fact that you are supporting his enemy as well at the same time?"

Sign Up for the Politics Today newsletter!

Please enter your email address below to begin receiving the Politics Today newsletter.

You must enter a valid email address in the field above!

Thank you for signing up for the Politics Today newsletter! You should receive your first newsletter very soon.

We're sorry, there was an error processing your newsletter signup. Please click here to visit our Newsletter Signup Center to register for this newsletter.

Clinton acknowledged that Ivan had asked "a fair question," but told him not to place too much stock in campaign rhetoric. "There are comments made that certainly don’t reflect the United States, don’t reflect our foreign policy, don’t reflect who we are as a people," she explained. "I mean, if you go to the United States, you see mosques everywhere, you see Muslim Americans everywhere. That’s the fact. So I would not pay attention to the rhetoric."

During an interview with CNN, Clinton allowed that she should not have played political prognosticator. "[M]y enthusiasm for the President got a little out of hand," she said, explaining that she was addressing the issue of "whether the comments in the primary campaign, some of which have been quite inflammatory, represented America."