Hillary Clinton says she’s angry about many of the same things as Bernie Sanders — but “once you’ve vented your anger,” it’s time for action.
Clinton’s comments, in an interview with National Public Radio, underscored her campaign’s effort to portray the former secretary of state as a fighter and Sanders as unrealistic as the two battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Asked what makes her angry, Clinton said that “lots of things do” — citing the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, first.
“I understand why people get angry. They’re angry about the Great Recession, which so knocked everybody flat. They’re angry about the failures of, you know, our government and the powerful interests — it’s not only Wall Street, it’s the gun lobby, the prescription drug lobby, the insurance lobby and so many others. Let’s talk about big oil,” Clinton said.
“I understand that,” she added. “But I also know that, once you’ve vented your anger, once you have gotten out there and roused all of those really strong passions, you have got to do something.”
Her comments were reminiscent of a meeting Clinton had with Black Lives Matter protesters where she discussed turning their causes into political action.
She’s also lashed out at Sanders’ proposal for a government-run Medicare-for-all health insurance system, saying she has “the scars to prove” she’s been a major part of Democrats’ decades-long push for universal health coverage — with President Barack Obama’s health care law as that drive’s capstone.
In a lighter portion of the wide-ranging interview, Clinton expanded on her love of hot peppers and offered her approval for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s guacamole recipe.
“I read an article about the special immune-boosting characteristics of hot peppers (and) I thought, that’s interesting because, you know, campaigning is pretty demanding,” she said. “I’d always liked hot food — Mexican, Indian, Thai — but I started adding hot peppers, and then I got into eating them raw, whenever they weren’t really, really too hot.”
Clinton was told by NPR that Bush’s guacamole recipe included jalapenos, she expressed approval.