Hillary Clinton faced repeated questions during a military forum Wednesday about her use of a private email server while secretary of state, an issue that has dogged her campaign and raised voter concerns about her judgment.
Nearly half of Clinton's time during the prime-time town hall was devoted to how she handled classified materials during her four years as the nation's top diplomat. Clinton, who took the stage before Republican nominee Donald Trump, repeated her regret about using a private account and her insistence that she did not compromise national security.
"There is no evidence my account was hacked," she told Matt Lauer, the "Today" show co-anchor who moderated the forum.
When traveling abroad, Clinton said, she took precautions including ducking into a portable tent to view classified materials to ensure no cameras were snooping.
"I take it very seriously," she said. "Always have, always will."
Trump was to appear later at the hourlong event organized by the nonpartisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. It was held aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier Intrepid, now home to a museum on the Hudson River in New York.
Clinton was also asked about her vote for the Iraq war while she was a U.S. senator from New York. She pointed out that she's admitted her regret about the decision, while Trump still insists he was opposed to the invasion, despite evidence to the contrary.
"I have taken responsibility for my decision," Clinton said. "He has refused to take responsibly for his support."
Clinton reiterated her support for the nuclear deal with Iran, saying enforcing the agreement would give her a freer hand to deal with the country's ballistic missile tests and support for terrorism.
"I would rather be dealing with Iran on all of those issues, without having them racing to a nuclear weapon," she said.
Clinton pledged to hold weekly meetings in the Oval Office to ensure veterans were receiving adequate health care, but said she would oppose any attempts to privatize hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"There is an agenda out there ... to do just that," she said. "I think that would be disastrous for our military veterans."
Both nominees spent the run-up to the town hall gearing up for the forum, previewing proposals and attack lines.
In a speech earlier in the day in Philadelphia, Trump detailed his plan to restore hundreds of billions of dollars in military budget cuts. Though it also includes a pledge to build new warplanes and enhance missile defense and cybersecurity systems, he did not provide a price tag, and he offered only scant details on how he would pay the costs.
"It is so depleted," Trump said of the military, describing a Navy that has fewer ships, an Air Force that flies old planes and other perceived shortcomings. "We will rebuild our military."
In Tampa, Fla., a day earlier, Clinton criticized Trump for saying he knows more about fighting Islamic State terrorists than military generals.
"His whole campaign has been one large insult to those who have worn the uniform," she said at a rally.
At an event with retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, one of his supporters and advisers, Trump promised to do more for veterans who have struggled to get health care after leaving the military.
"You're going to get taken care of and the government is going to pay your bill," he said in Virginia Beach, Va.
Some of Trump's most high-profile controversies have centered on the military and veterans. Near the beginning of his campaign last year, he insulted Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, by saying he prefers veterans who "weren't captured." Trump refused to endorse McCain against a primary challenger last month who was a vocal Trump supporter.
Trump also lashed out at the family of Humayun Khan, an Army captain who died in Iraq, after his father criticized Trump during a highly emotional moment at the Democratic National Convention. Trump's repeated attacks on the Khan family were widely criticized and came amid a stretch of behavior so erratic, even by the standards of his unorthodox campaign, that top Republicans were said to be exploring alternatives should he leave the race.
Since then, Trump has overhauled his campaign leadership and appears to have moved on from the Khans and begun sticking to his core issues of immigration and trade on the campaign trail.
Nonetheless, polls show Trump has more support from the military community.
Trump leads 55 percent to 36 percent among veterans and active-duty service members, according to a new NBC/SurveyMonkey poll. The same poll showed Clinton with an overall lead among registered voters, 48 percent to 42 percent.
Clinton had the advantage when registered voters were asked which candidate was better equipped to handle nuclear weapons, leading 44 percent to 24 percent. Trump has caused alarm among nuclear experts with his loose talk about nuclear war.
It's a message Clinton's campaign and her allies have tried to hammer home, portraying Trump as too unstable and erratic to oversee the country's arsenal.
Priorities USA, a super PAC supporting Clinton, is spending $5 million on a new television advertisement in swing states to criticize Trump's statements on war and nuclear weapons.
