Former President Bill Clinton on Friday joked that Bernie Sanders’s supporters would open fire on Wall Street.
“One of the few things I really haven’t enjoyed about this primary: I think it’s fine that all these young students have been so enthusiastic about [Hillary Clinton’s] opponent and [Sanders] sounds so good: ‘Just shoot every third person on Wall Street and everything will be fine,’” Clinton said in Fort Washington, N.Y., according to CNN.
{mosads}“The inequality problem is rooted in the shareholder-first mentality and the absence of training for the jobs of tomorrow,” Clinton added.
Clinton said after the event on Friday said that the quip illustrates Sanders’s focus on blaming the financial industry for America’s woes.
“It’s a joke,” he told MSNCB. “It’s a total joke. It’s meant to point out that’s the unilateral explanation for everything that’s wrong with America. You know, we all need to lighten up here, have a little sense of humor.”
Sanders has made criticizing Wall Street greed, income inequality and wealthy special interests cornerstones of his White House run.
His campaign on Friday released an ad needling Hillary Clinton for giving paid speeches to major financial institutions.
The Vermont lawmaker on Thursday also mocked Clinton’s ties with Wall Street, arguing it made her soft on big banks.
“Secretary Clinton called them out,” Sanders said of Wall Street during the Democratic presidential debate in Brooklyn. “Oh my gosh, they must have been really crushed by this. Was that before or after you received huge sums of money by giving speaking engagements?”