Clinton friend Terry McAuliffe says Hillary will flip-flop on TPP — again

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says Hillary Clinton will back some version of TPP
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

One of the original policy differences between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders — and a rare area of agreement between Sanders and Donald Trump — is President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations (but not China). Clinton originally supported the TPP, but after the details were released, she joined Sanders (and Trump) in opposing the deal. On Tuesday, after talking at the Democratic National Convention, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) told Politico that if elected, she would support TPP again, with unspecified changes.

McAuliffe, a longtime friend and ally of the Clintons, started off talking about his own views. "I worry that if we don't do TPP, at some point China's going to break the rules — but Hillary understands this," he said. "Once the election's over, and we sit down on trade, people understand a couple things we want to fix on it but going forward we got to build a global economy." Politico asked if that meant Clinton would also support TPP. "Yes," he said. "Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed." If Democrats win back the Senate and House, he said, "if we get enough things done, enough opportunities to change TPP, I'm optimistic going forward," McAuliffe said. "We cannot let China write these rules for 11 other countries."

Clinton national campaign chairman John Podesta quickly quashed McAuliffe's statements:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.