Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign responded to leaked audio that some called a criticism of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ supporters by trying to assure young voters she’s fighting for them.
In audio released Friday night, Clinton commented on the frustration felt by Sanders’ voters with the current political climate by saying “they are living in their parents’ basements” despite getting an education and a job. Clinton was criticized by Republicans and progressives alike who felt that she was insulting Sanders’ strong youth support.
In a statement released Saturday, Clinton’s campaign said she is actually fighting for millennials.
“She is fighting for exactly what the millennial generation cares most about — a fairer, more equal, just world,” the statement read. “She’s working to create new pathways to jobs and career opportunities, to build more inclusivity and community and to ensure everyone gets a fair shot.”
It’s a setback for Clinton among Sanders’ youthful supporters, who still widely see her as a dishonest politician who is a part of a system they hoped the Vermont independent could overthrow. Many headlines on Saturday accused Clinton of mocking Sanders’ supporters for their feelings and their new arrival to the political world.
Clinton told her supporters at the fundraiser that she saw herself in the center of the political realm and bewildered by people on the extremes of the political spectrum.
“It is important to recognize what’s going on in this election,” she said in the leaked tape. “Everybody who’s ever been in an election that I’m aware of is quite bewildered because there is a strain of, on the one hand, the kind of populist, nationalist, xenophobic, discriminatory kind of approach that we hear too much of from the Republican candidates.”
She added in the recording,”And on the other side, there’s just a deep desire to believe that we can have free college, free healthcare, that what we’ve done hasn’t gone far enough, and that we just need to, you know, go as far as, you know, Scandinavia, whatever that means, and half the people don’t know what that means, but it’s something that they deeply feel.”
On Saturday, the campaign sought to make sure these comments wouldn’t be a wedge between the Democratic nominee and her vanquished primary opponent.
“She believes that the most diverse, open-minded generation in history wants their voice heard in this election and that’s why she worked with Sen. Sanders on a plan to provide students with debt-free college,” the statement read, “and it’s why she’s traveling the country listening to their concerns and talking about not only what’s at stake in this election but her plan for the generation.”
“She’s inspired by the optimism and the drive of this generation and Sanders supporters across the country — and they’ve helped her craft and promote the most progressive platform in Democratic party history.”
