Hillary Clinton on 2016 presidential run: 'This is my last rodeo'

The former secretary of state addressed the media and her supporters on Tuesday

(Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner, touched down in Iowa on Tuesday to address the media on what she said is her last run as a politician.

“This is my last rodeo,” she told the media in the liberal college town Iowa City.

"When people diss the government, we're really dissing ourselves and dissing our democracy. This is my last rodeo, and I believe that we can leave not just the country in good shape for the future, but we can get a deep bench of young people to decide that they want to go into politics."

Ms Clinton said she’s working to “make government attractive again” and answered questions on foreign policy, Donald Trump's racist comments and Greece’s financial crisis. Her comments came ahead of her first nationally televised campaign interview with CNN.

The former secretary of state said that it is crucial that Congress come to terms with Iran on a nuclear plan deal that includes full transparency and inspections.

When asked if she agreed with Bernie Sanders on Greece’s decision to reject austerity measures, Ms Clinton said that an agreement between Greece and the Europeans is “imperative.”

“I hope that we can see an outcome here that will actually help Greece recover and keep them in the Eurozone and keep Europe united.”

In regards to the real-estate mogul Donald Trump, Ms Clinton said she was disappointed that he called Mexicans "rapists" and "drug dealers."

"I’m very disappointed in those comments. I feel very bad and very disappointed with him and with the Republican Party for not responding immediately for saying enough, stop it," she told CNN.

Ms Clinton answered a slew of questions as reporters were eager to ask questions during the third month of her campaign. Her team was recently criticised for corralling media members with ropes over Fourth of July weekend.

Before she ends her political run, Ms Clinton added that she’d like to steer the country in the right direction before she ends her career as a politician.

“I believe that we can leave not just the country in good shape for the future, but we can get a deep bench of young people to decide they want to go into politics to continue the fights that we’re going to be waging,” she said.