VIDEO: Hillary Clinton faces backlash over ‘hissy fit’ in Congo

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The Secretary of State's "hissy fit" has been replayed endlessly on US TV and analysed by critics who say it exposes her limitations as a diplomat.

White House aides played down the incident, while Mrs Clinton's spokesman said she was annoyed by the hint of chauvinism in the question.

Her tantrum came when a student asked her what "Mr Clinton thinks about China's growing influence" on the Congo during a meeting in Kinshasa.

She snapped back: "You want me to tell you what my husband thinks? My husband is not secretary of state, I am. You ask my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channelling
my husband."

The French-speaking student later said he had meant to say President Obama. But the sight of Mrs Clinton, America's top diplomat, losing her cool has not gone down well at home.

"If a student in the Congo can get under your skin with a mistranslation and you're unable to deflect it in a gracious diplomatic way, one gets a little concerned when an issue of more consequence comes along," said Robert Schadler, of the American Foreign Policy Council.

Former US diplomat Ray Walser added: "It was a flippish response. I think it was far from diplomatic."