Hillary Clinton's foreign policy speech was 52% Donald Trump zingers

Was that a Democratic presidential candidate's foreign policy address, or a roast of Donald Trump?

Regardless of her intentions, Hillary Clinton just delivered what might be simultaneously the most eviscerating and hilarious speech on national security that America has ever seen — and it's all thanks to the actions of her likely election opponent.

Clinton, who holds a significant lead over fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders in the delegate count, was expected to take aim at recent comments made by Trump while speaking in San Diego on Thursday.

What nobody knew for sure until the speech began was how good her aim would be.

"Donald Trump's ideas aren't just different — they are dangerously incoherent," said Clinton in the first of many lobs against the presumptive Republican nominee during her address.

"They're not even really ideas — just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright lies."

Clinton highlighted her own extensive foreign policy experience throughout the address, drawing upon examples from her experience as secretary of state, senator and wife of a president.

It wasn't her own qualifications that she played up the most in her speech, however, but the qualifications she says Trump lacks.

Out of the 4,150 words in Clinton's roughly 35-minute speech, a total of 2,156 were used in reference to Trump — just under 52 per cent of the entire speech.

Her words solicited so many cheers, jeers and boos at the Republican candidate's expense that, at times, it almost took on the air of a comedy roast — but without any F-bombs or "just kidding, we love you!" stuff at the end.

Following the event, news outlets proclaimed that Clinton had "lacerated" Trump or delivered a "spirited frontal assault."

On Twitter, they praised her sharp zingers and "sick burns."

Unlike what was seen during the actual Comedy Central roast of Donald Trump in 2015 (or during some Republican debates earlier this year,) there wasn't any name calling, below-the-belt insults or references to bodily functions in Clinton's speech.

For the most part, the Democratic candidate simply relayed facts that, in this context, also happened to served as diss fodder.

Here are 16 of the most buzzworthy anti-Trump quotes from Clinton's speech:​​​

• "It's no small thing when he calls Mexican immigrants rapists and murderers. We're lucky to have two friendly neighbours on our land borders. Why would he want to make one of them an enemy?"

• "He says climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese, and he has the gall to say that prisoners of war like John McCain aren't heroes" (audience boos). "Exactly."
• "This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes. Because it's not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into a war just because somebody got under his very thin skin."
• "Trump says over and over again, 'The world is laughing at us.' He's been saying this for decades, he didn't just start this year.… You've got to wonder why somebody who fundamentally has so little confidence in America, and has felt that way for at least 30 years, wants to be our president."
• "There's no risk of people losing their lives if you blow up a golf-course deal."
• "I don't understand Donald's bizarre fascination with dictators and strongmen who have no love for America. He praised China for the Tiananmen Square massacre; he said it showed strength. He said, 'You've got to give Kim Jong-un credit' for taking over North Korea — something he did by murdering everyone he saw as a threat, including his own uncle, which Donald described gleefully, like he was recapping an action movie."
• "I'll leave it to the psychiatrists to explain his affection for tyrants."
• "He says he doesn't have to listen to our generals or our admirals, our ambassadors and other high officials, because he has — quote — 'a very good brain.'"

• "Don't let anyone tell you that America isn't great. Donald Trump's got America all wrong. We are a big-hearted, fair-minded country."
• "What happens to the moral example we set — for the world and for our own children — if our president engages in bigotry?"
• "His proposal to ban 1.5 billion Muslims from even coming to our country doesn't just violate the religious freedom our country was founded on. It's also a huge propaganda victory for ISIS."
• "By the way, Mr. Trump — every time you insult American Muslims or Mexican immigrants, remember that plenty of Muslims and immigrants serve and fight in our armed forces."
• "It also matters when he makes fun of disabled people, calls women pigs, proposes banning an entire religion from our country, or plays coy with white supremacists. America stands up to countries that treat women like animals, or people of different races, religions or ethnicities as less human."
• "Being interviewed on the same episode of 60 Minutes as Putin was, is not the same thing as actually dealing with Putin."
• "Imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Situation Room, making life-or-death decisions on behalf of the United States. Imagine him deciding whether to send your spouses or children into battle. Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal when he's angry, but America's entire arsenal."
• "We all know the tools Donald Trump brings to the table — bragging, mocking, composing nasty tweets — I'm willing to bet he's writing a few right now."

And as it turns out, she was right.