Here’s the History Behind Hillary Clinton’s Abraham Lincoln Defense at the Debate

Hillary Clinton turned to Abraham Lincoln for her defense when asked about a damaging line from a speech she gave on Wall Street revealed by Wikileaks on Friday. And not just any Lincoln, but Steven Spielberg’s version.

At the second presidential debate, a questioner asked the Democratic nominee about a statement she had made about politicians sometimes having a private stance and a public stance on an issue.

In response, she said that she was referring to how Lincoln got the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery passed, as depicted in the 2012 Spielberg film Lincoln.

“And I was making the point that it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want to do and you have to keep working at it and yes, President Lincoln was trying to convince some people, he used some arguments, convincing other people, he used other arguments,” she said. “That was a great — I thought a great display of presidential leadership.”