Longtime Clinton Friend Lets It Slip That She’ll Flip-Flop On Key Issue If Elected President

There’s one thing Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican nominee Donald Trump all agree upon. They all say they’re opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal — at least in their public statements. But when it’s all said and done, if Clinton becomes president, she’ll pass the TPP, according to a longtime friend.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close confidant to the Clintons, told Politico that Hillary Clinton will support the TPP. Stating his belief that China will break trade rules and citing a need to “build a global economy,” McAuliffe said that after the election the TPP will be evaluated, tweaked a bit, and then some form of it will pass under a Clinton presidency.

It’s an issue Clinton has flipped-flopped on already. In 2012, while she served as the Obama administration’s secretary of state, she called it the “gold standard” in trade deals. Then, as a presidential candidate in 2015, she came out against the TPP. The reversal baffled Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, who said since 2012 the deal has gotten “better” as it has already been tweaked.

When pressed on whether Clinton would turn around again and support TPP if elected, McAuliffe said, “Yes. Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed.”

Hillary Clinton calls TPP the GOLD STANDARD that will govern 40% of world’s trade. She’s for TPP#TPP pic.twitter.com/Wkf5cXLoiu

— ccie nyc (@cciedotnyc) July 27, 2016

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After Politico published the governor’s statement, his spokesman contacted the news organization and attempted to walk back the comments. “While Governor McAuliffe is a supporter of the TPP, he has no expectation Secretary Clinton would change her position on the legislation and she has never told him anything to that effect,” the spokesman said.

Clinton campaign official John Podesta also tried to distance his candidate from McAuliffe’s remarks with a tweet Wednesday.

Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong. Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.

— John Podesta (@johnpodesta) July 27, 2016

But many observers weren’t buying it, including the GOP nominee.

As I have been saying, Crooked Hillary will approve the job killing TPP after the election, despite her statements to the contrary: top adv.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2016

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