Former 2016 GOP presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina had her fair share of drama with President-elect Donald Trump during the campaign season last year. The former Hewlett Packard CEO now says she has made peace with the past and is even stepping out in defense of Trump against one senator who has made it his mission to oppose a Cabinet nomination.
“I understand that Cory Booker doesn’t agree with Jeff Sessions. That’s his right, but it’s a very different thing for Cory Booker to say he’s unqualified. He’s clearly qualified, he’s overseen the Judiciary Committee,” Fiorina told moderator Van Jones in a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening when asked about the attorney general nominee.
The reference was to the New Jersey Democratic senator’s unprecedented step testifying against fellow senator Sessions in this week’s confirmation hearings.
Fiorina was bombarded with attacks from Trump last year. In one case, the eventual GOP nominee insulted her to her face on national television. Those past incidents are not Fiorina’s focus going forward.
“Well, I have been clear when I felt his behavior was hurtful and objectionable, and I’ve been public about that,” Fiorina said. “But I also look at a man who obviously has extremely, highly qualified women in his Cabinet, extremely highly qualified women in his business. And so this appears to me, to be a man who recognizes talent, no matter what shape or size it comes in. And I think that’s important.”
She added that Trump will need to be held accountable, but has earned the country’s support and Americans of all stripes ought to “give him a shot.”
Fiorina defended Trump after a member of the audience, an immigration attorney, asked if she was worried about how the Republican was using “scaremongering,” even after winning the election.
“Of course I’m concerned about the scaremongering,” Fiorina responded. “The habit of tarring one’s political opponents with a lot of adjectives and insults didn’t start with Donald Trump. He may do it differently. He may tweet about it and let’s face it, 140 characters means you have a lot of hyperbole and a lot of adjectives in there, but he is not the first person to insult a political opponent.”
While campaigning, Fiorina released her tax returns and had called on her fellow Republicans to follow suit. Although Trump has said he will not release his until an audit into his business has concluded, Fiorina said voters are not up in arms over it, despite the media’s insistence over the returns.
“I think it’s important to remember that he got elected anyway. So I actually think a whole bunch of people who knew very well that he had a complex business empire, who knew very well that he hadn’t released his tax returns, were willing to vote for him anyway. And I think they were willing to vote for him because they wanted change,” Fiorina said.
