President Obama took money from Wall Street, Clinton told a packed New Hampshire crowd. “Did that stop him from signing Dodd-Frank?" | Getty Clinton calls out Sanders for Wall Street connection

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Hillary Clinton took a new tack in defending her donations from Wall Street banks on Monday, pointing to the example of President Barack Obama when confronted by a heckler in the audience here.

Obama took money from Wall Street, she told a packed crowd here after introductions from her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton. “Did that stop him from signing Dodd-Frank?"


Clinton’s rejoinder came when an audience member repeatedly yelled “you took their money!” as Clinton got to the Wall Street reform section of her stump speech.

But, eager to win voters over here with one-on-one conversations in recent days as the hours tick down to the New Hampshire’s primary, Clinton engaged the voter.

Before long, she took a page out of her opponent Bernie Sanders’ book, criticizing him for his own ties to Wall Street. “Senator Sanders took about $200,000 from Wall Street firms. Not directly, but through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee," she said. "There was nothing wrong with that. It hasn't changed his view! Well, it didn't change my view or my vote either!"

The exchange marked the first time Clinton had so directly sought to tie Sanders to the centers of Washington and Wall Street power, and she also hit at him by reminding the crowd that most of the Democratic leaders even in his home state are supporting her.

“I also want to thank our friends from Vermont,” she said. “The governor from Vermont. The senator from Vermont. The two former governors from Vermont."

