Agriculture Secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack endorsed Hillary Clinton on Wednesday in Iowa, where he said his support for the 67-year-old candidate is based on her middle-class roots.
"This is a person who is rooted in the middle class. She grew up in the middle class. She’s never left the middle class," Vilsack said, "In terms of her values and her concerns and her thoughts and her programs."
However, the Clintons left the middle class financially years ago. Despite saying she and her husband were "dead broke," Clinton has amassed great wealth through political connections.
The Clintons reported an income in excess of $30 million over the past 16 months. Most of that income came from paid speeches Clinton gave to large corporations, banks, and major associations. The Clintons' total wealth is in excess of $100 million.
The Clintons have built a formidable donor network. The Clinton Foundation has raised more than $2 billion since its inception, and Clinton’s campaign is expected to raise more than $1 billion in her bid to take the White House.
Earlier this week, Clinton hosted a fundraiser that hosted top Democratic donors and celebrities in the Hamptons. The Clintons are renting a vacation home in the Hamptons for two weeks, spending $100,000 for their stay—almost three times the average American’s annual salary.
With the Democratic frontrunner struggling to connect with ordinary voters in early states, the Clinton campaign is purposefully pushing an "everyday American" message, with the help of Vilsack and other supporters, to make Clinton appear more relatable.