A long-time adviser to Hillary Clinton said criticism of the candidate’s six-figure speeches to banks is "ridiculous" and driven by "cynicism," during an interview with podcast host Ezra Klein on Wednesday.
"The reason why this seems ridiculous is the idea that you could buy Hillary Clinton for $600,000, or any amount of money like that, is ridiculous," said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and a former top aide to Clinton’s 2008 campaign.
Tanden, speaking on The Ezra Klein Show podcast, added that the Clinton campaign never coordinated economic policy with donors during the 2008 campaign, and promoted policies that were "to the left of a number of candidates who ran that cycle."
"There wasn’t a single moment in that entire process that Hillary even signaled that we should care what donors have to say," said Tanden. "People definitely complained afterward."
Klein continued to press Tanden on Clinton’s decision to accept speaking fees of up to $675,000 from Goldman Sachs and other major financial firms shortly before she announced her presidential candidacy last year. Klein said there are many voters "who think $675,000 is a lot of money," and questioned the optics of a politician accepting a six-figure check for a single speech.
"This is what we deal with in like 25 years of Washington," said Tanden. "There’s no actual fact of Hillary ever having, doing anything scandalous. But it’s the appearance of a scandal."
Tanden said Clinton’s speeches should not matter in light of her actual policy record.
"I think the truth is we live in very cynical times, and people don’t have as much faith in public policy so they use these short-hand [examples]" said Tanden. "I think what’s disappointing to me about this primary is there are so many people who are willing to throw aside this person’s work on issues related to children, issues related to health care, issues related to a core set of progressive values over 25 years, and cynically place their eggs in a basket around a speech or something she did, versus look at her record."
Tanden, who has worked with Hillary Clinton in various formal and informal capacities since 1997, also said she was initially intimidated by Hillary and was more of a "Bill Clinton person" when she joined his campaign in 1992.
"[Hillary] was super intimidating. She looked very different back then and had really long hair with the headband," said Tanden.