Kristina Schake, deputy communications director for Hillary for America, defended Hillary Clinton's answer at Sunday night's CNN town hall that she wanted to put coal miners out of business.
"She wasn't very clear about how she said that. She actually has a plan to help coal miners and their communities transition to clean energy," Schake said on Monday.
CNN host John Berman asked Schake how Clinton's comments were going to be played out in coal-producing states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Schake said Clinton's answer was not exactly clear or graceful.
"She didn't say it gracefully, but when you look at her record, she's the one that's really with coal miners and trying to help them not only get the benefits they've earned but the respect that they deserve," Schake said.
Clinton, a recent advocate for clean energy, told TVOne's Roland Martin that her policies would put coal miners and coal companies out of business. She promised that she would not forget the miners but did not speak on a plan to help them when the coal mines were shut down.
In the past, Clinton was a major proponent of fracking and the expansion of drilling for natural gas. But at the CNN Democratic debate, Clinton told an audience member that with her conditions, she did not think there would be many places in America that would continue fracking.
During her time at the State Department, Clinton worked with energy companies to spread natural gas drilling around the globe.
Clinton has since abandoned her position on natural gas drilling.