Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo reaffirmed her belief Monday that the Democratic Party should become the “party of work” and not the party of “anti-business.”
“CNN Newsroom” host Poppy Harlow asked Raimondo if she still believes in her statements about the Democratic Party and what she thinks President Joe Biden’s administration will do to get “Americans back to work.” (RELATED: Biden Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Confirms Trump’s China Tariffs ‘Have Been Effective’)
“You have been a centrist for a long time. You’ve talked about the importance of it. You said there is not a lot of political reward for it. In 2019 you told The New York Times ‘Democrats have become a party that is anti-business. We need to be the party of work,'” Harlow began. “I wonder if you still think that’s the case about the Democratic Party and if you do, what you think the consequences of that are for American jobs?”
Raimondo responded “one of the many reasons” she admires Biden is that he knows those “in public service” need to “deliver for the American people.” She described the meaning of “delivering decent, high-paying jobs, with benefits, for every American,” and added “if it requires compromise” to get it done, then the administration must work across the aisle.
“But at the end of the day, yes, I believe firmly in the dignity of work. By the way, that’s part of the reason I want to create more manufacturing jobs. There’s something special about spending your day making things, and making a decent living doing it,” Raimondo continued.
“So you’re going to see this administration focus like a laser on getting Americans back to work, and on making sure that work pays and is dignified, and doing that in a bipartisan way because we need to get things done for America,” she concluded.
Raimondo, who was confirmed to lead the Commerce Department on March 2, has been critical of the Democratic Party in the past. In addition to her comments to The New York Times on the party’s stance toward business, Raimondo has also criticized Democrats pushing Medicare For All, which she described as “not a good approach policy-wise, substantively or politically.”