Hillary Clinton is trying to cover up her radical socialist agenda by claiming she’s a "progressive Democrat" — a bogus description that’s not fooling anybody, Rep. Marsha Blackburn tells
Newsmax TV.
"I don't know why she is hiding behind the title 'progressive.' Bernie [Sanders] is a proud socialist and is out there campaigning as a proud socialist," Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
"It's amazing to me that people are buying into this rhetoric. We're the land of the free and the home to the brave and I want us to stay that way."
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Blackburn's remarks come after the Democratic presidential front-runner was questioned Tuesday by Chris Matthews on MSNBC's "Hardball."
"I want to try to help you for this audience tonight, our audience, locate yourself politically in this country," Matthews said to Clinton, noting her rival Sanders "loves" being tagged a as socialist.
"He's never run as a Democrat, he runs against Democrats up there in Vermont. You're a Democrat. I'd say you're a pretty typical Democrat, in the tradition of the Democratic Party…. You're somewhere in there. What's the difference between a Socialist and a Democrat?"
"Well…" Clinton sputtered.
"Is that a question you want to answer, or would you rather not?" Matthews followed up.
"Well, you know, I, you'd have to ask…" Clinton said, continuing to stall.
"Well, see, I'm asking you. You're a Democrat, he's a Socialist…. Would you like someone to call you a Socialist? I wouldn't like someone calling me a Socialist," Matthews shot back.
"But I'm not one," Clinton protested.
"Okay," Matthews said.
"I'm not one," Clinton repeated.
Matthews then asked: "What's the difference between a Socialist and a Democrat?"
"Well, I can tell you what I am. I am a progressive Democrat," Clinton answered.
"How's that different than a Socialist?" Matthews continued.
"I'm a progressive Democrat who likes to get things done and who believes that we are better off in this country when we're trying to solve problems together," she said.
Blackburn said Clinton's unease with the question shows just how far Democrats have drifted to the left.
"The Democratic Party has moved so far to the left that you have progressive Democrats who do not want to use the term 'socialist' so they say are progressives," Blackburn said.
"[Clinton] classifies herself as a progressive Democrat. Chris Matthews is probably right in pushing and forcing the issue of trying to have her define the difference."
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