On Monday, when former president Bill Clinton slammed the “awful legacy of the last eight years,” Republicans were quick to say that it was a negative referendum on the Obama administration. However, Clinton later insisted that he was not referring to current president Barack Obama but to the policies of Republican obstructionism that has formed as a reaction against Obama.
“Now, if you don’t believe we can all grow together again, if you don’t believe we’re ever going to grow again, if you believe it’s more important to re-litigate the past, there may be many reasons that you don’t want to support her,” he said at the event in Washington.
“But if you believe we can all rise together, if you believe we’ve finally come to the point where we can put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us and the seven years before that — when we were practicing trickle-down economics and no regulation in Washington which is what caused the crash — then you should vote for her because she’s the only person who basically has good ideas, will tell you how she’s going to pay for them, can be commander-in-chief and is a proven change-maker with Republicans and Democrats and independents alike.”
After the comments were seized by Republican leadership and posted on social media and other sites, a spokesperson for Clinton clarified that the comments were meant to target Republicans, not the president.
“When Republicans controlled the White House, their trickle-down approach drove our economy to the brink of a collapse. After President Obama was elected, Republicans made it their number one goal to block him at every turn,” spokesman Angel Urena told USA Today. “That unprecedented obstruction these last eight years is their legacy, and the American people should reject it by electing Hillary Clinton to build on President Obama’s success so we can all grow and succeed together.”