NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–June 24, 2016. Below is a transcript of today’s press call with HFA Senior Policy Adviser Jake Sullivan and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri:
JAKE SULLIVAN: Thanks everybody for joining. We wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the implications of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union and, especially, what it says about the choice voters face here in the United States in November. First and foremost, as we can see from the falling markets today, the economic uncertainty created by this vote carries a risk of hitting the pocket books of American families. Their savings, their livelihoods, and, so, Hillary Clinton has made clear that the first priority has to be to make sure that working families here in America aren’t hurt by this vote and its aftermath.
By contrast, Donald Trump actively rooted for this outcome, and he’s rooting for the economic turmoil in its wake. He said that a falling British pound is good for his golf business. He actually said that. He actually put his golf business ahead of the interests of working families in the United States.
When major events like this happen, we need effective, experienced leadership. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton worked to restore America’s global leadership in the aftermath of the great recession. And she has proven time and again that she has the judgement, the temperament, and the experience to make America stronger even in the face of headwinds from abroad.
She also has the relationships to work our allies in times of economic uncertainty. As she said this morning, the United States will maintain its steadfast commitment to the special relationship with the UK and the transatlantic partnership with Europe. She sees these as unique American assets. It’s these that help make our country exceptional and help us be able to advance our interest and make America a safer, more prosperous place.
By contrast, Donald Trump has consistently shown disregard for our friends and allies around the world and has talked about a weaker, less confident, less secure America. Every time there is a significant national or global event, Donald Trump proves again that he is temperamentally unfit for the job. At this point, there is an emerging Donald Trump playbook in reaction to crisis.
First, rather than respond with strength and leadership, he engages in, what can only be termed as, pathological self-congratulation. Second, rather than consult with people who might know something about what’s happening, especially given the stakes for American families, he consults only with himself. In this case, asked if he had spoken to his foreign policy advisors after the vote, he said, no, because quote “There’s nothing to talk about”. Third, rather than get the facts, he just makes things up or makes basic factual errors.
He tweeted that Scotland was quote “Going wild over the vote,” even though Scotland voted overwhelmingly against leaving the EU. Donald Trump’s just not concerned with the facts of these cases. Fourth, rather than think about or talk about what’s good for the American people, he thinks about and then talks about what’s good for himself. And then he always says something that shows he doesn’t have a clue what it actually means to be commander-in-chief.
In this case, he said that running a golf course is just like running a country. The American people need a steady hand at the wheel in a time of uncertainty and not a reckless and erratic egomaniac who could easily drive us off a cliff. Now I suppose in retrospect that it was utterly predictable, but the press conference he held at his golf course in Scotland this morning should astonish all of us. And it should worry all of us, alarm us. Watching him, listening to his reaction to a major and consequential global event and then imagining this man as our President is a dangerous and frightening proposition.
He’s not concerned with foreign policy. He’s not concerned with the American people or their retirement accounts or their security. He is concerned with himself and that’s it. So the choice in this election from our perspective is clear. It is a choice between Hillary Clinton, with the strength and experience to put the interests of the American people first and to make sure we are looking out for American livelihoods and pocket books, and someone who has the strength, experience, and leadership to actually get the job done; versus the spectacle, which we saw once again today in Donald Trump. And with that, let me turn it over to Jennifer.
JENNIFER PALMIERI: Thank you, Jake, and thanks everybody for joining. I just have a couple additional points to make. Specifically, when Jake said that, and, what I can’t emphasize enough, is that Donald Trump is truly unable to think about anything other than himself and his own bottom line. There’s a lot of talk this week about a campaign reset for the Trump campaign, but what Donald Trump proved today is that you can change the campaign manager but not the candidate.
We saw what happens when he’s taken off the Paul Manafort teleprompter. Donald Trump reveals his true self and that true self is someone whose temperament makes him a threat to our nation’s security and the economic well-being of American families. And the last two weeks we saw one very consequential and one tragic event, that’s the Orlando shooting and the Brexit vote. Hillary Clinton saw both of those events through the lens of how they affect Americans and how they affect our working families, and Donald Trump viewed them as opportunities to aggrandize himself.
He managed this morning, in one single press conference, to demonstrate why he is unfit to be President. He proved again that he’s willing to enrich himself at other’s expense as we saw him do when he routed for, in 2006, for the housing crisis, which he saw as an opportunity to make money for himself. We saw why he’s temperamentally unqualified and unprepared to be commander-in-chief. And with that, we’ll open the line and take your questions.
Source: http://www.hillaryclinton.com
