Clinton: ‘I Have Been Working Against Inequality Since I Was Right out of Law School’

GEIST: “Secretary Clinton, it’s Willie Geist. We appreciate you calling into the show this morning.”
CLINTON: “How are you doing, Willie?”
GEIST: I am doing well, thank you. Mika touched on this moment ago. Vice President Biden gave an interview a few days ago in which he said, quote, 'Bernie Sanders has credibility' on issue of inequality, wage stagnation because he has been talking about them his whole life. And he said, Vice President Biden, that you are relatively new to these things and perhaps that’s why Senator Sanders is doing so well. I wonder what your reaction is to Vice President Biden’s comments.”
CLINTON: “ First of all, even in those comments, he went on to say that I have thoughtful plans but then went further and said he was really talking about the four years I was secretary of state. But put all that aside, he’s a friend and I just saw him at a memorial service where we just both spoke on behalf of one of our dear departed friends. Here’s the bottom line. I have been working against inequality since I was right out of law school, and I have worked hard to try to level the odds for people who are often left behind and left out. That’s why I’ve devoted a lot of my time and attention to try to end inequality of opportunity that poor kids faced. While I have worked hard to level the playing field for women who are often treated unequally, why I have stood up and fought against a lot of the plans and the proposals when I was the senator to slash taxes on the wealthy and force out sense of an economy that really rewards those at the top while basically penalizing the vast majority of the Americans. I could go on and on, Willie. I have a long, long record of tackling all kinds of inequality. Because economic inequality is obviously a driver of so many other forms of inequality. But even if you have just [indecipherable] equal incomes in the world that doesn’t exist, you know, what are we going to do about making sure people get good schooling? What are we going to do to make sure women are not discriminated against? You know, the work continues and I think we have to have a very sharp focus, which I really applaud Senator Sanders for having, but we need a broader understanding of all of the root causes and contributors to inequality. That’s why in the economic plans that I’ve rolled out, I am going to ask the — not ask — we’re going to try to demand that the wealthy pay more of their fair share to support, you know, all of the benefits one gets for being an American, which I want to make sure we protect and push into the future. So I feel very committed, but I also feel very confident that my varied experience has an understanding on all the different issues about inequality that we have to address.”