Hillary Clinton claimed Wednesday that declaring herself to be a “capitalist” during the 2016 presidential primaries may have hurt her with Democratic voters.
“Probably,” she said when asked by Time Inc. Brands CCO Alan Murray if the declaration hurt her. The pair appeared in conversation as part of the Shared Value Leadership Summit in New York City.
“It’s hard to know but I mean if you’re in the Iowa caucuses and 41 percent of Democrats are socialists or self-described socialists, and I’m asked ‘Are you a capitalist?’ and I say, ‘Yes, but with appropriate regulation and appropriate accountability.’ You know, that probably gets lost in the ‘Oh my gosh, she’s a capitalist!’” Clinton concluded, partly referring to the popularity of her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who ran as a self-declared democratic socialist.
The Republican National Committee research team quickly seized upon the remarks, clipping it and posting it to their social-media channels.
