Fox Business/screenshot
Carly Fiorina.
Fiorina was asked to respond to President Barack Obama's rosy description of the US economy during his State of the Union address this week.
But the Republican candidate initially ignored the question to tweak former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.
"I'm not a political insider. I haven't spent my lifetime running for office. The truth is I have been blessed by a lot of opportunities to do a lot of things in my life. And unlike another woman in this race, I actually love spending time with my husband," Fiorina said, a not-so-subtle jab at Clinton's marriage to former President Bill Clinton.
Fiorina proceeded to go after real-estate mogul Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, and linked him to Clinton.
"I'm standing here because I think we have to restore a citizen government in this country. I think we have to end crony capitalism - the crony capitalism that starts with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton," she said.
She added: "You know Hillary Clinton sits inside government and rakes in millions, handing out access and factors. And Donald Trump sits outside government and rakes in billions buying people like Hillary Clinton."
Fiorina then addressed Obama's State of the State address: "The state of our economy is not strong."