Hillary Defends Personal Wealth: I’m Unlike The ‘Truly Well Off’

Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks after receiving the Order of Lincoln Award at the Field Museum in Chicago, Saturday, May 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
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Hillary Clinton defended her personal wealth and how it might impact a potential presidential run in 2016, after coming under fire for comments she made during her “Hard Choices” book tour.

The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington asked Clinton how her financial status could impact her ability to discuss income inequality.

“But they don’t see me as part of the problem,” she responded in the interview published Sunday, “because we pay ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of people who are truly well off, not to name names; and we’ve done it through dint of hard work.”

Clinton was criticized for comments she made earlier in June during an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer.

“We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt,” Clinton said about her and Bill Clinton’s financial situation. “We had no money when we got there and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea’s education. You know, it was not easy.”

She later said that her remark wasn’t “artful.”

“That was then, this is now. Obviously, we are very fortunate. We’ve been given great opportunities,” she said during an event with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Conservatives again jumped on Hillary Clinton’s comments in the interview published Sunday.

“If Hillary is going to run for President she might be advised to take a lengthy sabbatical from her $200k per pop speaking tour and private shopping sprees at Bergdorfs to try and reconnect with what’s happening back here on Earth,” Tim Miller, executive director of America Rising, a Republican super PAC told reporters, according to the Washington Post.

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