With Hillary Clinton’s campaign slipping behind Bernie Sanders’ in Iowa and New Hampshire, her campaign is bringing out Chelsea Clinton to do some damage control. The former First Daughter was in New Hampshire on Tuesday to say why she was voting for Hillary and against Bernie as a young mother.
The New York Times reports that Clinton hosted 100 supporters at the Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, N.H. While there, she cupped her belly (Clinton is pregnant with her second child), and apologized for not being able to actually drink anything.
Clinton contrasted Sanders unfavorably to her mother on registering younger voters, making higher education affordable, and on providing healthcare. “Senator Sanders wants to dismantle Obamacare, dismantle the CHIP program, dismantle Medicare and dismantle private insurance,” Clinton said.
Sanders, who is touting a single-payer “Medicare For All” plan, hit back at Clinton, saying, “Unfortunately, I have to say, as much as I admire Chelsea, she didn’t read the plan.” The Hill reports that Sanders said Clinton’s criticism that his plan would empower Republican governors to walk back healthcare for lower-income and middle class voters was untrue: “This is a plan that works in 50 states in this country, whether you have conservative Republicans or progressive Democrats. It’s a national program.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea also used her new role as a mother to underscore her authority to voters, saying: “It is the first presidential election that I will vote in as a mom. So I have a different sense of responsibility, and I feel like I have even more of a stake in the future because my daughter and future children are now going to be part of that future.” Clinton then cast her mother in a softer light, talking about how Hillary Clinton likes to sing “The Wheels on the Bus” to Chelsea’s daughter.
(via New York Times & The Hill)