Hillary Clinton consistently pushed for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal while Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, but since she left the Obama administration and is now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, she is hedging her stance.
CNN host Jake Tapper and his staff uncovered 45 examples of Clinton promoting the TPP while secretary of state, and we were able to uncover video of 24 of those instances. In speeches around the world, Clinton touted it as "far-reaching," "innovative," "high-quality," and an "exciting opportunity" for the United States and its potential partners in the Pacific by lowering barriers and getting rid of most tariffs.
Last Sunday, one day after her "re-launch" of her campaign, Clinton had a different tone:
After first dodging the issue, on Sunday in Iowa, Clinton said that "the President should listen to and work with his allies in Congress, starting with (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi, who have expressed their concerns about the impact that a weak agreement would have on our workers, to make sure we get the best, strongest deal possible. And if we don't get it, there should be no deal."
Clinton said, "there are some specifics in there that could and should be changed. So I am hoping that's what happens now -- let's take the lemons and turn it into lemonade."
But as members of the Obama administration can attest, Clinton was one of the leading drivers of the TPP when Secretary of State.
Now, as the left flank of the Democratic Party has come out strongly against it and dealt Obama an embarrassing legislative defeat last week on trade authority, Clinton seems unsure what the best political step to take is.
During a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa Clinton was asked about TPP where she responded that the deal was not fully negotiated and that she did not know the full provisions yet.
Daniel Bassali contributed to this article.