Several polls have shown that many Republicans would never vote for Donald Trump, which is part of the reason his Tuesday 2016 presidential campaign announcement might seem like a charade. But Carly Fiorina, another GOP candidate who succeeded in the private sector, seems to be taking Trump seriously.
“I think he’s hitting on issues that Americans care about,” said the former Hewlett-Packard CEO Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day.”
Unlike Trump, who at his campaign launch yesterday claimed he was worth $8.7 billion (about two times the Forbes estimate), Fiorina is downplaying her wealth, which is estimated to be worth $57 million.
Fiorina said that most Americans perceive the political class as “more focused on its own power, privilege and position more than on doing the people’s work.” She continued, “I think [voters] are open to someone with experience such as myself who know what it means to get a bureaucracy under control.”
Fiorina also discussed her humble beginnings, saying that her job as a secretary at a small real estate firm influenced her views on wealth. Fiorina told CNN that federal tax breaks benefit the wealthy and powerful, not those with more modest incomes. “I can take the secretary I used to be, but they don’t help her and they don’t help that nine-person real estate firm,” she said. Notably, Fiorina did not defend Trump in her discussion of wealth.
Emily Leayman is an intern at the Washington Examiner
