Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is accusing Hillary Clinton of backing away from support for President Barack Obama’s ambitious trade deal for “political gain.”
The White House last week hailed bipartisan legislation that would give Obama special trade-promotion authority to help secure a trade package to sell more U.S. goods throughout the Pacific Rim. But key elements of the Democratic party, including labor unions, oppose the measure.
Clinton, who announced last week she’s running for president, has not come out for or against the measure, but faces pressure from Democrats and Republicans to clarify her stance.
“Any trade deal has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security,” Clinton said earlier this week during a tour of a community college in Concord, N.H. “We have to do our part in making sure we have the capabilities and the skills to be competitive.”
Bush, in a posting on Medium, says that Clinton as Secretary of State in 2012 called the emerging economic deal with 11 Pacific nations the “Gold Standard in trade agreements.”
The likely Republican presidential candidate said he backs the deal and that it would “strengthen our ties to our allies throughout the Pacific region, including our close allies and partners in Australia, Mexico and Japan. We could use more friends, frankly.”
The White House dismissed suggestions that Clinton was not on the same page as Obama, saying that Obama has pledged to only sign a deal that addresses labor, environmental and human rights.
“Those are important priorities of this president. So I haven’t seen anything to suggest any distance,” White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz told reporters.
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