CONCORD, N.H. — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held a rare press conference Monday but only took questions from reporters selected by Clinton campaign communications director Nick Merrill.
Questions mainly focused on Clinton’s position on the Trade Promotion Authority negotiations happening in Washington.
“The TPA is a process issue. The issue for me is what’s in the deal” Clinton said. “I think this is a chance to use this leverage so that the deal does become one that more Americans and members of Congress can vote for.”
Clinton was also asked if she wanted to give advice in regards to having a last name that already is connected to the White House to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who announced in Miami Monday.
“That’s a very tempting question to answer but I won’t. I would say this I’m going to let the Republicans decide who their nominee ends up being. I’m running on my record, on my positions, but I’m very proud that I have experience alongside my husband in the White House and serving as secretary of state for President Obama that I think will really be helpful as I both campaign for and serve as president.”
Additionally, she told reporters she is grateful for the fruits of success that came her way as well as the way for her husband Bill. Clinton was asked how she could criticize wealthy Americans when she and former president Bill Clinton can make massive amounts of money within a only a few hours following a speech.
“I’m very grateful for the success that Bill and I have had. We both come from hard-working families and we have worked really hard both of us over the course of our lives,” Clinton said. “We feel blessed. We feel absolutely grateful for the opportunities that we’ve had, but I’ve been saying pretty much the same things since I was a college student. I am proud of my progressive credentials, experiences, and accomplishments. And I am waging a campaign for what I think is best for the country.”
Clinton explained, “It’s going to be up to the American people to draw their own conclusions. I think what they’re interested in is who is going to fight for them, and I don’t think there is any doubt in anyone’s mind that when I say I am going to fight and when I say I’m going to try that’s what I’m going to do every single day. So I think that’s an issue that’s secondary in the minds of people, at least the ones that I talk to and hear from.”
Clinton told a room of about 250 supporters at the Carter Hill Orchard just minutes before the presser that Republicans are “coming back with more of the same that didn’t work before.”
“And just on the basis of arithmetic, it cannot work again. Both my husband and President Obama created more opportunity coming from the lower base, because they believe fundamentally that real and lasting prosperity must be built by all and shared by all,” she said to applause.