Hillary Clinton 20 years ago was touting her conservative background, a stark contrast from her current effort to portray herself as a progressive who “gets things done” in order to compete with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
“I feel like my political beliefs are rooted in the conservatism that I was raised with,” Clinton said in a 1996 interview with NPR, as first reported by Sidewire news. At the time, her husband was running for reelection with no Democratic primary opponent.
Clinton’s conservative father influenced her politics at a young age, and the former Obama cabinet member even campaigned for Republican politician Barry Goldwater in the 1960s. Although she later switched her affiliation to the Democratic Party, Clinton has often referred to herself as a “moderate.”
In the 2016 election, Clinton has walked back on her former “moderate” stance in order to compete with Sanders. After the Iowa caucus, Sanders slammed Clinton for falsely calling herself a “progressive,” claiming, “You cannot be a moderate and a progressive.”
“I don’t recognize this new brand of Republicanism that is afoot now, which I consider to be very reactionary, not conservative in many respects,” Clinton added in the 1996 interview. “I am very proud that I was a Goldwater girl. And then my political beliefs changed over time.”
