Hillary Clinton said big banks and corporations that paid her six-figure sums for speeches following her time as secretary of state did so in part because they wanted to hear about her role in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, not because they expected favors in return.
“I gave speeches to a wide array of groups, from healthcare groups to auto dealers and many, many more,” Clinton said during an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think what they were interested in, because what we talked about, was the world.”
Clinton was responding to attacks from her opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, on her acceptance of hefty speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. Sanders has suggested Clinton could not be expected to rein in Wall Street because she has taken so much money from it.
“Coming off of four years as secretary of state in a complicated world, people were interested in what I saw, what I thought. They asked questions about matters that were on their minds, a lot of interest in the bin Laden raid, how such a tough decision was made and what I advised the president.”
The Democratic front-runner dismissed the discovery this week of information classified above “top secret” among her private emails. She downplayed the significance of an ongoing FBI investigation into her handling of classified material.
“I can’t control what the Republicans are doing,” she said of the probe, although the FBI is part of the Obama administration’s Justice Department.
Clinton also waved off the suggestion that her presidential campaign is suffering from a lack of enthusiasm among voters similar to the sentiment that cost her the nomination in 2008.
“I feel great that we have the level of enthusiasm that we do,” she said. “I think it’s actually good for the debate that we’re having that there’s so much interest and energy that I feel on my side.”
Clinton touted her commitment to lowering the cost of healthcare, attacking the pharmaceutical industry in what has become a popular riff for her on the campaign trail.
“I know what people are going through,” she said of the rising price of prescription drugs.
“If you look at the differences between Sen. Sanders and myself, I just don’t think we can wait. We can’t wait to make progress on the myriad of issues we’re going to be facing,” Clinton said.
She has frequently accused the Vermont senator of threatening to undo the progress President Obama made toward a progressive vision for healthcare with the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
