Economist Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary during President Bill Clinton’s first term, is leaning toward backing Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
Reich discussed his preferences Tuesday evening during a forum hosted by the Howard Dean-founded nonprofit group Democracy for America to promote the economist’s latest book, titled Saving Capitalism.
Asked who he thought would be the best candidate to handle income inequality in America, Reich responded, “I think that Bernie Sanders is saying very clearly, very powerfully exactly what the truth is.”
Reich then added that was not the same as saying that the Vermont independent had the best chance of winning a general election. Nevertheless, he said Sanders was the candidate who “moved” him the most.
“You know, you also ask who has the best chance of being elected, and that’s harder to talk about, that’s harder to understand. I’ve known Hillary Clinton since she was 19 years old. I think she’s very experienced and very competent and think she would make and will make an excellent president. But, I have to tell you that I am incredibly impressed, I’m very moved by Bernie’s passion and the absolute clarity of what he’s saying, which is the truth,” he said.
Reich has long had a somewhat strained relationship with the Clintons. In his 1997 memoir about his time as labor secretary, Locked in the Cabinet, Reich complained about being closed off from important decisions involving public policy.
“From the view of the White House staff, Cabinet officials are provincial governors presiding over alien, primitive territories,” Reich wrote. “Anything of any importance occurs in the national palace.”
