Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton was booed by the audience during a debate with rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in Brooklyn, New York. The crowds reaction was due to Clinton’s refusal to release transcripts of speeches she gave to large financial corporations on Wall Street.
Mrs. Clinton was put in a very uncomfortable situation in Thursday night’s debate when CNN moderator Dana Bash pressed her about her speeches for some huge financial companies such as Goldman Sachs. Bash said many voters are waiting for Clinton to release the transcripts of her speaking engagements with Wall Street, three of which were reportedly worth $675,000.
Wall Street has made @HillaryClinton a millionaire https://t.co/KAMC5xvbeY #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/f4P9QUEnXC
— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) April 15, 2016
“If there’s nothing in those speeches that will change voters’ minds, why not just release the transcripts and put these speeches to bed?” Bash said as the audience cheered.
The members of the audience booed as Hillary Clinton tried to respond.
“If everybody agrees to do it — there are other speeches from money on the other side, I understand that,” the Democratic presidential hopeful told the moderator, adding they should set “the same standard on everybody” and only then would she release the transcripts.
Watch As @HillaryClinton Is Booed For Repeatedly Dodging On Releasing Her Speech Transcripts #DemDebate https://t.co/cwqneuJFKh
— America Rising PAC (@AmericaRising) April 15, 2016
The Vermont senator promised he would release all the transcripts of speeches he has given “behind closed doors” to huge Wall Street financial institutions.
“There were no speeches!” he told the members of the audience.
Hillary Clinton then took a jab at Bernie Sanders saying he should also release his tax returns . The senator promised to release his 2014 tax returns on Friday.
“I don’t want to get anybody very excited, I’ve got very boring tax returns,” the senator said. “Unfortunately, I remain one of the poorer members of the United States Senate.”
Earlier in the heated debate, Sanders mocked the former Secretary of State for saying she stood up to the banks.
“Secretary Clinton called them out! They must’ve been really crushed by this. And was that before or after you received huge sums of money by giving speaking engagements behind closed doors? They must’ve been very upset by what you did.”
The sarcastic remark came after Hillary Clinton tried to divert the issue by focusing on Bernie Sanders’ tax returns and boasting she called out to the banks when she was still a New York senator.
The crowd cheered as the heated exchange continued. Bernie Sanders took a swipe at Hillary Clinton when he raised the issue of having super PACs backing her campaign, but when the former Secretary of State tried to defend herself, the crowd booed her again.
“Well, make no mistake about it, this is not just an attack on me, but an attack on President Obama,” Clinton began as the audience booed her
“You may not like it, but I’ll tell you why,” she warned the roaring Brooklyn crowd.
“President Obama had a super PAC when he ran. President Obama took tens of millions of dollars from contributors, and President Obama was not at all influenced when he made the decision to pass and sign Dodd-Frank, the toughest regulations on Wall Street in many a year.”
The Democratic front-runner went on to say that making her ties to Wall Street an issue is a “phony attack,” adding her detractors do not have sufficient evidence to prove their claims.
Clinton also defended her connections to Wall Street in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer and said she would not make the transcripts of her speaking engagements public. Hillary Clinton appeared confident that she has been transparent when it comes to her finances, even boasting that she has released her tax returns, which everyone can access on her website.
[Photo by Seth Wenig/AP Images]
