Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed poverty drove her to the public speaking circuit and said after her husband’s White House stints, the family was “dead broke,” in debt up to their ears.
“We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt,” she said, in an interview with ABC News due to air Monday night, Mediaite reported. “We had no money when we got there and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea’s education. You know, it was not easy.”
Mrs. Clinton made the remarks while discussing the speaking tours she and her husband have accepted — in exchange for reportedly large fees — since 2000.
“Let me put it this way,” she said. “I thought making speeches for money was a much better thing than getting connected with any one group or company as so many people who leave public life do.”
Mrs. Clinton’s earned $5 million-plus in speaking fees since leaving her post in 2013, Mother Jones reported.
Her husband has collected even more. The former president routinely collects $500,000 for a 45-minute talk, the Daily News reported.
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• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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