When Hillary Clinton said Bernie Sanders “wasn’t really a Democrat until he decided to run for president” Thursday, some in the audience at an MSNBC town hall rained down boos.
Clinton was defended her husband Bill legacy after Sanders claimed that “Bill Clinton was the president who led the effort to deregulate Wall Street, was the president who fought for the disastrous NAFTA trade agreement, was the president who pushed this so-called welfare reform, which was absolutely disastrous for low-income people.” (VIDEO: Hillary Refuses To Directly Say If She Has Ever Lied To The American People)
Moderator Jose Diaz-Balart asked Hillary, “Should you be held accountable for your husband’s presidency?” (VIDEO: Hillary Rejects Begging Town Hall Questioner’s Plea To Release Wall Street Speech Transcripts)
Clinton replied, “Well, he was the president who created 23 million jobs, who raised incomes for every group in America, not just those at the top. In fact, African-American families, Latino families had an even higher than average increase in income. Created some great economic development programs like, you know, the empowerment zones and the new market tax credits.”
“So you know, I know that Sen. Sanders has also attacked President Obama. He’s called him weak, he’s called him disappointing. He tried to get someone to run against him in the 2012 election, in the primary,” she continued. “And you know, I just don’t know where all this comes from, because maybe it’s that Sen. Sanders wasn’t really a Democrat until he decided to run for president. He doesn’t know what the last two democratic presidents did.”
Some in the audience cheered, and some in the audience booed, leading Clinton to insist, “Well, it’s true. It’s true. You know it’s true. I mean, it happens to be true. And I got to tell you, I look at our last two Democratic presidents — were they perfect? No. No person is. But I’ll tell you what, I would take the two of them over any Republican any time, anywhere.”
Sanders is the longest-serving independent in the Senate, but he caucuses with the Democrats. Sanders has claimed that he is not a Democrat but a democratic socialist. (VIDEO: Bernie Sanders Doubles Down On Socialist Claims)