Hillary Clinton discusses the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement during an interview with PBS News Hour. Clinton sides with progressives against Obama trade deal Her stance puts her in stark opposition with the White House — and Vice President Joe Biden, who could still challenge her in the coming days — once again.

Hillary Clinton went further than ever before to distance herself from President Barack Obama, coming out against a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that she worked to support as a member of his administration.

“As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it,” the 2016 candidate said just days before the first Democratic debate, where she will face liberal rivals Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley. “I don’t believe it’s going to meet the high bar I have set."


By coming out against the deal, Clinton sides with labor unions and appeals to primary voters in a tightening presidential race. But her opposition now worries some supporters who said they fear Clinton could be pushed too far left in a primary and become vulnerable in a general election.

"I think if Hillary Clinton were not running for president, she'd probably support the thing," a Democratic operative and Clinton ally said.

"I worry about it on two points,” the person added. “One, that she will be accused of pandering, and two, that there is a general election constituency to think of."

Some Democratic operatives argued that her decision was a no-brainer for a presidential candidate because the only people who care about TPP as a litmus-test voting issue are those opposed to it.

But her stance puts her once again in stark opposition with the White House — and Vice President Joe Biden, who could still challenge her in the coming days. Indeed, the list of breaks from her former boss has grown in recent weeks.

After months of refusing to answer questions about the Keystone XL pipeline — which is still under White House review — Clinton came out against its construction for environmental reasons in September. Shortly thereafter, she announced her opposition to the so-called Cadillac tax on expensive health care benefits that is part of the Affordable Care Act.

Clinton also pledged to go further than the White House on immigration reform and gun control regulations — other domestic policy issues that align her with the liberals pressuring her.

She has also weighed in from the opposite side, advocating for the administration to impose a no-fly zone in Syria.

It’s a striking string of disagreements with Obama, capped by discord today that has been brewing ever since she announced her candidacy in April. But the White House was not surprised by Wednesday’s development: Clinton's staff gave the administration a heads up today, according to a White House official.

"I'm continuing to learn about the details of the new Trans-Pacific Partnership, including looking hard at what's in there to crack down on currency manipulation, which kills American jobs, and to make sure we're not putting the interests of drug companies ahead of patients and consumers. But based on what I know so far, I can't support this agreement," Clinton said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Her decision won her praise from progressive groups, including Democracy for America, but criticism from moderate Democrats with ties to Clinton.

"Secretary Clinton has pledged to run a campaign to do one thing above all: restore middle class prosperity. But there is no path to middle class prosperity without opening the doors to the vast Asian market, and there is no way to do that without the TPP Agreement,” said former Clinton administration official Jonathan Cowan, now president of the moderate Third Way think tank.

Labor leaders and Clinton’s opponents have been eager to have her on their side, but her hesitance to weigh in had also given hope to supporters of the deal.

In Clinton's 2014 book, "Hard Choices," she acknowledged that an agreement would be "important for American workers, who would benefit from competing on a more level playing field. And it was a strategic initiative that would strengthen the position of the United States in Asia."

Still, she warned in the memoir, "Because TPP negotiations are still ongoing, it makes sense to reserve judgment until we can evaluate the final proposed agreement. It's safe to say that the TPP won't be perfect — no deal negotiated among a dozen countries ever will be — but its higher standards, if implemented and enforced, should benefit American businesses and workers."

O'Malley, for one, immediately weighed in, pointing to Clinton's shift.

"Wow! What a reversal! I was against the Trans-Pacific Partnership months, and months ago," he told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington on Wednesday shortly after the news of Clinton's stance broke.

"I believe we need to stop stumbling backwards into bad deals and Secretary Clinton can justify her own reversal of opinion on this, but I didn't have one opinion eight months ago and switch that opinion on the eve of the debates."

In her Wednesday statement, Clinton pinned part of the blame for her switch on Congressional Republicans.

"We can’t look at this in a vacuum," she said. "Years of Republican obstruction at home have weakened U.S. competitiveness and made it harder for Americans who lose jobs and pay because of trade to get back on their feet."