WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and bashed likely Republican presidential candidates’ emphasis on inequality during a speech event Tuesday night.
The speech at an event celebrating the 30th anniversary of Emily’s List tied the importance of equal pay for women to inequality and improving wages for the middle class.
Notably, Clinton gave a shout-out to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who liberals hope will wage a primary challenge to Clinton (if she decides to run in 2016). Warren has repeatedly and relentlessly said she is not running for president in 2016 but supporters see her as appealing potential candidate who could possibly push Clinton to the left on economic policy.
“It’s because of women like you that Elizabeth Warren can work to hold Wall Street accountable,” Clinton told the crowd.
She also praised President Barack Obama on the economy and helping the country fight its way back from “from crisis and recession” but also said there was more work to be done on the economy.
Clinton’s speech didn’t mention the email controversy that dominated a big chunk of the news cycle on Tuesday, rooted in a New York Times report that the former secretary of state may have violated violated federal regulations by exclusively using a personal account when she ran the State Department.
The former secretary of state’s speech emphasized that wage fairness issues were issues important to the entire American economy.
“These are not just problems for women, they are problems for families and our entire economy,” Clinton said. “I mean let’s be honest, our families look different than they did a decade ago and so do our jobs. Many families today depend on two incomes to make ends meet.”
Clinton then delivered a few jabs at Republicans like former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) who have emphasized income inequality.
“In fact we do not want to discourage their newfound interest but we’re not buying that old trickle-down economics that didn’t work before and won’t work again,” Clinton said.
