Before running against billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump for the presidency, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience at a private, paid speech she wanted to see more successful businessmen and women run for office because they can’t be bought.
In a speech made public by Wikileaks — which released an email from Hillary for America Research Director Tony Carrk containing three attached speeches given at private Goldman Sachs events — Clinton spoke and took audience questions at the “Builders and Innovators Summit” hosted by Goldman Sachs on October 29, 2013.
Calling her “Madame President,” a male attendee asked Clinton: “My question is, as entrepreneurs, we risk a lot. And Mike Bloomberg had 30 billion other reasons than to take office. Do we need a wholesale change in Washington that has more to do with people that don’t need the job than have the job?”
“That’s a really interesting question,” Clinton replied. “You know, I would like to see more successful business people run for office. I really would like to see that because I do think, you know, you don’t have to have $30 billion, but you have a certain level of freedom. And there’s that memorable phrase from a former member of the Senate: ‘You can be maybe rented but never bought.’ And I think it’s important to have people with those experiences.”
“And especially now, because many of you in this room are on the cutting edge of technology or health care or some other segment of the economy, so you are people who look over the horizon,” she added. “And coming into public life and bringing that perspective as well as the success and the insulation that success gives you could really help in a lot of our political situations right now.”
Be careful what you wish for: Clinton called running against Trump “incredibly painful” and “heartbreaking” in Seattle, Washington, on Friday. Trump repeatedly boasted he “didn’t need anyone’s money” throughout the Republican primaries.
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