Hillary Clinton’s campaign scrambled Tuesday to downplay a claim made by longtime Clinton confidante, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, that she would flip her opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership if she became president.
John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chair, praised McAuliffe’s loyalty but said the governor was “flat wrong.”
Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong. Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.
— John Podesta (@johnpodesta) July 27, 2016
McAuliffe’s comments, made in an interview with Politico, came as supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders marched out of the convention center Tuesday and staged a sit-in at the nearby media tent.
Many of those protestors carried placards and banners that read, “Stop TPP.”
Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong. Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.
— John Podesta (@johnpodesta) July 27, 2016
Although Clinton supported the controversial trade deal as secretary of state, she announced her opposition to TPP amid a fierce primary battle with Sanders.
Brian Fallon, a Clinton campaign spokesman, also said McAuliffe’s claim was wrong.
“Once the election’s over, and we sit down on trade, people understand a couple things we want to fix on it but going forward we got to build a global economy,” McAuliffe had said of Clinton’s trade position. “Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed.”
Clinton’s past positions on trade have been a major point of contention between progressives and Clinton supporters. Her selection of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate last week rankled many Sanders fans who pointed to his history of supporting TPP as evidence that he is insufficiently progressive.
