Among the sprawling field of 2016 presidential candidates, just two are “political outsiders” with business experience — Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina. And of those two, Fiorina wants to remind voters that she is a “self-made woman,” compared to Trump, who inherited millions from his father.
Fiorina, in an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner ahead of Thursday’s debate, emphasized the fact that she started as a secretary at a real estate firm before attending business school and rising up the corporate ladder to become the CEO of Hewlett-Packard.
Fiorina said Trump, on the other hand, “inherited real-estate holdings from his father and has gone bankrupt a few times.”
For clarification, Trump himself has not filed for bankruptcy, but has filed for corporate bankruptcy on four occasions. Fiorina herself is no stranger to corporate difficulties, although HP never filed for bankruptcy. It did lose more than half its stock value during her tenure, although she is quick to point out that at the same time, revenue increased from $44 billion to $90 billion.
“I have experience building businesses, transforming businesses. I have a track record of problem solving and leadership and results,” Fiorina said. “I understand how the economy works and I also understand really well how the world works. Hewlett-Packard, at the end of my time there, we had turned it into a $90 billion company operating in almost 180 countries.”
Beyond setting herself up as the preferable GOP business candidate, Fiorina highlighted her foreign policy experience. And, as always, reiterated her technology experience.
“In addition to all of that professional experience around the world, I’ve led two major charities with business around the world, I’ve done policy work around the world, I’ve also chaired the advisory board of the CIA, done work with the NSA, advised two secretaries of defense, a secretary of homeland security and a secretary of state,” Fiorina said.
“I’ve led big bureaucracies and cut them down to size and held them accountable. And I understand technology. And I think all of those things are unique in the field. I also think every one of those things is very important now in order to do the job as president of the United States,” she added.
She’s still concerned about the massive hack of the Office of Personnel and Management database that resulted in the confidential data of more than 20 million past and current employees being compromised. Technology, though important, is “also a weapon being used against us,” Fiorina said.
Asked what a President Fiorina would do in the event of such a data breach, the former CEO offered a brief glimpse before having to dash off to the debate.
“First, we need to clean up the ineptitude in government,” Fiorina said. “Secondly, I would create a single cybercommand. You know, we have all these different agencies, all of which have a piece of it, none of which are accountable for the whole problem. And that needs to be fixed.”
Speaking of the debate, Fiorina said she was taking it easy for the day.
“Today I didn’t do much. I slept in, for me, until 7:30, got up, worked out, had a conversation with a good friend and colleague and had lunch with my husband.”
But as for debate prep, she said she knows what she wants to say and is “keenly aware that 60 percent of Republicans still have not heard my name.”
“So I have an opportunity to introduce myself tonight, which I’m really looking forward to.”
