GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, whose strong performance on the CNN debate stage is getting rave reviews, said Thursday that now people know who she is.
"In fact, going into the debate last night, still, about half the country had never heard my name, didn't know I was running for president," the former Hewlett- Packard CEO told
Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program. "I'm finding if people hear me, if they see me, if they understand who I am and what I do, they tend to be supportive."
While listening to a recap of her reviews on
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program though, she said she was "certainly gratified" by the response to her performance, but she's not resting on that praise or thinking about the likelihood that she'll advance in the polls.
"It's still very early on," she said. "Where I go from here is to South Carolina. You know, the first caucus still is about four or five months away."
Fiorina also fielded several policy questions on the morning show and personal questions about some of the more difficult times of her life, including losing a daughter to drug addiction and surviving her own fight with cancer.
"I learned that love and faith heal all, if given enough time," she said "I learned that life isn't measured in time, it's measured in love and positive contribution and moments of grace. And I have had good times and bad in my life as all of us had, I have been tested by life...I'm running for president because I think every American deserves the opportunity to fulfill their potential and use their God-given gifts."
Fiorina also discussed the need for job creation in the United States, saying that small businesses create "two-thirds of the new jobs in this country," but those businesses are being destroyed.
She also agreed that there are times and places to raise the minimum wage, but not nationally.
Fiorina also spoke out about the situation in the Middle East, blaming the failures in Syria on President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, including the news that Russia has positioned forces in Syria.
"We should be rebuilding the sixth fleet, rebuilding the missile defense program in Poland to push back on [Vladimir] Putin," she said. "Syria has become immeasurably more dangerous with the entrance of Russia into that battlefield."
On the Fox program, she pushed back against online criticism that she sometimes does not smile or try to soften her image, even during the debate.
"I also talked about the fact that we lost our younger daughter to addiction," said Fiorina. "I think what the American people want to see is who you really are. And not every occasion calls for a smile, honestly. It doesn't call for a smile when you're talking about the dangers that we face in the world."
Related stories:
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.