Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley has come out swinging against Wall Street and, by extension, Hillary Clinton.
The former Maryland governor denounced Goldman Sachs as “one of the biggest repeat-offending investment banks in America.”
“Recently, the CEO of Goldman Sachs let his employees know that he’d be just fine with either Bush or Clinton. I bet he would,” O’Malley said. “Well, I’ve got news for the bullies of Wall Street — the presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families.”
On Monday, O’Malley told “Good Morning America” viewers the Goldman Sachs CEO’s comments should be a “wake-up call for all of us” because government officials and businessmen have not followed through on the promise of “reining in excesses on Wall Street.”
O’Malley’s focus on Goldman Sachs isn’t a coincidence. Goldman Sachs has donated between $250,000 and $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation, and in the past year Hillary Clinton has given two paid speeches to the company. Goldman Sachs is also a longtime supporter of the Clinton Global Initiative, having committed to support business training and education of 10,000 women worldwide through the organization.
Robert Rubin, a former treasury secretary and leading economic adviser under Bill Clinton, spent 26 years as an executive for Goldman Sachs before he entered the public sector.
Fox Business Network’s Charlie Gasparino described O’Malley as “the last person” Wall Street wants running the Democratic Party.
Nevertheless, an Iowa poll released Monday showed Hillary Clinton with a large lead over O’Malley and other possible Democratic challengers.
