New York City’s leftist mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday he doesn’t care about the speeches Hillary Clinton gave in private to major Wall Street firms.
In an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, De Blasio said he cares about “what’s in [Clinton’s] platform” now, as opposed to what she has said to Wall Street bankers. (VIDEO: CNN’s Tapper Asks Podesta If Hillary Attending Lobbyist Fundraiser Undermines Her Message)
Host Mika Brzezinski began asking de Blasio, “So Mr. Mayor, this is an election of throw the bums out, we’re sick of Washington, we’re sick of the same old promises, we’re sick of them saying things but it not actually getting done on both sides of the aisle. Having said that, and hearing what you’ve just said about Wall Street and what needs to be done as we move forward, should your candidate release the transcripts of the speeches that she made to Wall Street, to big banks, and received a very big check in return?” (RELATED: This Might Be Why Hillary Won’t Release Her Goldman Sachs Speech Transcripts)
“My blunt answer to you I think it is much more important that she challenged Wall Street when the financial crisis and the economic crisis was beginning,” de Blasio replied, “And I think it’s much more important that she’s saying right now she’s going to put additional restrictions on Wall Street that we still don’t have.” (VIDEO: For Sale: Hillary On Taking $675,000 From Goldman Sachs, ‘That’s What They Offered’)
Brzezinski interjected, “But doesn’t this cut into the trust issues if we can’t see what was said behind closed doors?”
De Blasio tried to say, “No,” but Brzezinski continued, “How do we know that will happen? Isn’t it raising that question and saying, ‘She’s got something to hide. She says one thing behind closed doors and something else to the public when she is running for office.'”
“Shouldn’t she release the transcripts?” Brzezinski asked.
“My blunt view is I care what she says on her platform,” de Blasio claimed. “I really don’t care about —”
“So no? No transcripts,” Brzezinski asked.
“I don’t care about those speeches. I care about what’s in her platform. Her platform would reign in Wall Street excesses more even than Bernie Sanders would,” de Blasio suggested. “And a lot of progressives have said that and Paul Krugman said that. She has the sharpest platform for addressing the Wall Street crisis than any candidates had since the Wall Street crisis, and that’s out loud, and that’s what she’ll be held to. That’s what matters in this election.”
Brzezinski concluded the interview saying, “So, no.”
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