Hillary Clinton’s staff moved to reassure voters on Tuesday night that her opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership is solid, and not just a campaign promise likely to be broken if she makes it to the White House.
Campaign manager John Podesta took to Twitter to push back against comments that Clinton supporter, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.), made to Politico, predicting Clinton would end up supporting TPP.
“Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed,” McAuliffe said. When he was asked if she’d ultimately back the deal as President, the former governor bluntly said: “yes.”
McAuliffe later tried to walk back his claim, but it was Podesta who went into full damage control.
“Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong,” he tweeted Tuesday night. “Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.”
As Secretary of State, Clinton referred to the controversial deal as the “gold standard” of agreements. But a few years later, under pressure from the left and facing a primary challenge from a vociferous critic of trade in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Clinton came out last year against the TPP.
Questions, however, still linger over how committed a President Hillary Clinton would be in defeating the TPP–if it passes Congress. The pact is currently languishing on Capitol Hill, and likely won’t receive a vote until after the election in the lame duck session.
Clinton delegates to the party platform writing committee objected to adding language that opposed the TPP. She also picked Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her running mate. Kaine supported Trade Promotion Authority, also known as “fast track” for TPP. The legislation was a prerequisite to the sweeping deal passing Congress.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe isn’t the only one who has predicted another Clinton flip-flop on TPP, either. Back in January, Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue told Bloomberg that he’s confident Clinton will come around to supporting the trade deal if elected.
“If she were to get nominated, if she were to be elected, I have a hunch that what runs in the family is you get a little practical if you ever get the job,” Donohue said. He remarked that Clinton only opposed TPP because her rival, Sen. Sanders, did.
