California Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed Hillary Clinton for president on Tuesday, but a 1992 debate shows how he once held very different opinions about the Democratic front-runner.
Brown and then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton roped Hillary Clinton into a heated exchange when the two were facing off during a Democratic primary debate in March 1992. Brown accused Bill Clinton of “funneling money to his wife’s law firm for state business,” and declared the situation a “conflict of interest.” Hillary Clinton was a practicing lawyer at Rose Law Firm at the time.
Brown also said Hillary Clinton was “representing clients before the state of Arkansas,” calling it a “scandal of major proportion.”
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife,” replied Bill Clinton. “You’re not worthy of being on the same platform as my wife.” Bill Clinton denied both of Brown’s attacks, and said he felt sorry for him.
Bill Clinton said Brown “reinvents himself every year or two” and added, “I don’t think you can take much of what [Brown] says seriously.”
Hillary Clinton responded to Brown’s attacks in a statement the day following the debate: “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had tea, but what I decided to do is fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life.”
California’s Democratic primary is June 7. Clinton currently leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Golden State by 8 points — 50-42 — in the latest RealClearPolitics average.
