( CNN ) -- The question may have been lost in translation , but a visibly angry Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bluntly told a town-hall meeting in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday , `` I will you tell you my opinion , I 'm not going to channel my husband . '' Hillary Clinton became visibly angry after a translator asked what Bill Clinton would think regarding an issue . The unscripted moment happened as Clinton spoke to students at a Congolese university in Kinshasa , the Congo capital . A male student rose to ask a question about Chinese financial contracts with Congo . The student asked Clinton what President Obama would think of the deal , but pool reporters in the room said the translator made a mistake , posing the question as what would Bill Clinton think . Clinton looked surprised when she first heard the translation in the headset , and then sharply replied , `` You want me to tell you what my husband thinks ? My husband is not the secretary of state , I am . You ask my opinion . I will tell you my opinion ; I 'm not going to channel my husband . '' Watch Clinton react to question » . At the State Department , Assistant Secretary P.J . Crowley said the question she heard `` struck a nerve , '' that her opinion on the matter was apparently of less interest than that of her husband , the former president . Crowley told CNN that Clinton 's answer must be considered in the context of her African trip . `` The secretary of state is going to Goma Tuesday , to draw attention to the plight of women who are victims of rape as a weapon of war '' in Congo , Crowley said . `` She did react to what she heard , '' Crowley explained , but regardless that the interpreter may have gotten it wrong , `` you ca n't separate the question from the setting . '' He said `` If Africa , if Congo is going to advance , women have to play a more significant role . She was in the setting of a town hall , and the questioner was interested in what two men thought , not the secretary of state . '' Crowley , who has just returned to Washington after traveling with Clinton during the first part of her trip to Africa , said the State Department has not yet reviewed recordings of the original question , in French , to learn whether the student clearly intended the question to refer to Obama , not former President Clinton . `` She did talk with the student afterward , and they seemed to have reached an understanding , '' Crowley said .
Question at town - hall meeting may have been an error of translation . When translator posed question , they asked for Bill Clinton 's thoughts . Clinton responded : ` ` I will tell you my opinion ; I ' m not going to channel my husband '' State ##ment : Question ` ` struck a nerve , '' that her opinion was of less interest .