Former Secretary of State and likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has created controversy in recent weeks about her refusal to release any of her paid speeches to a variety of different investment banks, trade groups and international corporations.
She was reportedly paid at least $225,000 per speech. That is over four times the amount the average American makes in one year, and that was only for one speech. She made an estimated 92 of these speeches from April 2013 to March 2015, earning millions of dollars for minimal work.
Although Clinton has rebranded herself (and moved farther to the left wing of her party) for the presidential primary, the fact that she accepted those amounts of money from groups that she now attacks for fostering “income inequality” is a lesson in hypocrisy.
Clinton should at least demonstrate respect to the American people and release the transcripts of her speeches so the American people can view just what she was saying in those invitation-only events . It is unlikely, however, that she will.
She has said that if other candidates release the transcripts of their paid speeches, she will do the same. If Clinton wants to truly distinguish herself as a leader, however, she will release them on her own, instead of waiting to follow the crowd.
On top of that, she has made a point to attack bankers and hedge fund managers at every turn, mostly to satisfy the liberal base of her party. If this is true, then why have they donated millions of dollars to her campaign? If she is so against the millionaires and billionaires of Wall Street, then why does she not release what she said to them?
All of this plays into a larger trend we have seen from Clinton and her husband for decades. They seem to operate by their own rules, and see themselves as above the average American because of the power they hold. We have seen examples of their unethical behavior in Whitewater, the Monica Lewinsky scandal and now with Clinton’s unethical and careless (and possibly criminal) handling of her email while she was Secretary of State.
The American people deserve better than the hypocrisy of the Clintons. Clinton should release the speeches and acknowledge that she has a great base of support from Wall Street and corporate America. Of course, it is doubtful she will. This fall, it is up to us to prove that the Clintons’ legacy of hypocrisy must come to an end.
Patrick Waters is a freshman accounting major from St. Louis, Missouri