Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told CNN today that she opposes a global trade deal she helped negotiate as Secretary of State. Clinton’s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is all the more striking since she listed its negotiation as one of her key accomplishments in public office.
BREAKING. CLINTON AGAINST #TPP. HRC tells @JudyWoodruff on @NewsHour, frm what she knows of trade deal, "I am not in favor."
Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) October 7, 2015
In her 2014 book “Hard Choices,” Clinton wrote that TPP was “important for American workers, who would benefit from competing on a more level playing field. And it was a strategic initiative that would strengthen the position of the United States in Asia.”
ICYMI: In Hard Choices, @HillaryClinton Praised TPP: https://t.co/0xEsJxvjYh pic.twitter.com/WUe5uSPoqJ
Jeff Bechdel (@jeets) October 7, 2015
And in 2012, while she was still serving as Obama’s Secretary of State, Clinton heaped lavish praise on TPP, calling it the “gold standard” for trade agreements.
“This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field,” Clinton remarked during an official trip to Australia in November of 2012, just weeks after Obama was re-elected. “And when negotiated, this agreement will cover 40 percent of the world’s total trade and build in strong protections for workers and the environment.”
According to recent polls, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) in Iowa has nearly evaporated. She now trails Sanders in New Hampshire by double-digits.
