GOP out to bully Clinton from White House run, Axelrod says

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- David Axelrod said Wednesday Republicans are attempting to bully Hillary Clinton out of running for president by attacking her on the Benghazi incident.

Speaking on the MSNBC program "Morning Joe," Axelrod, President Barack Obama's former chief political strategist, called "the Benghazi flare-up right now as throwing a high, hard one at Hillary Clinton to try and dissuade her from running for president. I really think that's a lot of what's motivating what's going on."

Republicans have sought to hold Clinton, widely regarded as the Democratic front runner in the 2016 presidential election, responsible for attack last year on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. They argue more could have been done to protect the consulate, and that the administration was not truthful about the nature of the attack, the Washington newspaper The Hill reported Wednesday.