Hillary Clinton's campaign on Friday tried to frame the Brexit vote fallout as a leadership test, and the latest opportunity to paint Donald Trump as unfit for the Oval Office.

But Democrats outside her campaign said the strength of the “Leave” bloc in economically frustrated regions of Britain — a shock after polls showed both sides equally positioned for a victory — could be a cause for concern at home, where economically struggling voters have also been energized by Trump's anti-immigrant, anti-establishment rhetoric.


“There are some warning signs,” said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who supports Clinton’s campaign. “There was an economic populism dimension to the vote, which means Secretary Clinton should focus more and more on economic wage, income inequality, jobs issues, domestically rather than trade and global economics. There’s an economic anxiety in this country that we’ve got to address.”

The Democratic candidate who prides herself on being a wonk — one who embraces policy details, compared to her opponent whom she paints as a self-congratulating empty suit — notably steered clear Friday of the gritty details of what Britain’s stunning exit from the European Union means for the economy, or for her centrist, establishment campaign.

“This time of uncertainty only underscores the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House to protect Americans' pocketbooks and livelihoods, to support our friends and allies, to stand up to our adversaries, and to defend our interests,” Clinton said in a brief statement, underscoring her own campaign themes as well as her contrast message with Trump. “It also underscores the need for us to pull together to solve our challenges as a country, not tear each other down."

Clinton campaign operatives distanced the problems abroad from those at home, noting that a vote on whether the U.K. left the European Union was "profoundly" different from a vote on who should serve as commander in chief of the United States.

“Britain and the United States are different countries,” said Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri. While the far right in Europe has fanned the flames of anti-immigrant nationalism, a Clinton aide pointed out that the non-white population in the United Kingdom is 13 percent, compared to twice that — 26 percent — at home.

Clinton’s senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan also said his boss had not spoken with any European leaders Friday, noting they “had their hands full dealing with the crisis.”

“The American people need a steady hand at the wheel in times of uncertainty,” Sullivan repeated multiple times on a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon, a few hours after Trump lauded the vote as a "great thing" and noted it would only increase business at his Turnberry golf course if the pound faltered. “Every time there is a significant national and global event, he proves again that he is temperamentally unfit for the job," Sullivan said. “Donald Trump actively rooted for this outcome, and he’s rooting for the economic turmoil in its wake. He actually put his golf business ahead of the interests of working families in the United States.”

Even with Democrats watching the Brexit vote with some consternation, Clinton’s team claimed it is already fully addressing those economic issues fueling populist resentment at home and abroad. “She has heard and felt the sense of frustration,” Sullivan said, “the sense that our economy is not working for everyone. She’s made clear that she intends to make the kinds of bold investments and policy reforms to make the economy work for everyone.”

Democratic operatives outside the campaign said Clinton would have a bigger problem on her hands if she weren't running against a candidate who appears to be his own worst enemy. On Friday, for instance, Trump was in Scotland for a business trip — but instead of taking the opportunity to cast himself in a presidential light and meet with European leaders the day after the monumental vote, he unveiled new beverage concessions at his golf course. When asked if he had consulted about the British referendum with his foreign policy advisers, Trump said "there's nothing to talk about."

“It’s reasonable to worry about there being a sweeping anti-incumbent sentiment in the Republican and among parts of the Democratic establishment,” said Tommy Vietor, a former foreign policy aide to President Barack Obama. “But the recent numbers seem to bear out that the more time people spent with Donald Trump, the more terrible they think he is.”

Some Democrats said the Brexit vote could serve as a kind of morality tale for voters who have been swept up by Trump’s rhetoric. “The pro-leave party walked back their biggest promises right away,” Vietor added. “Trump’s entire campaign is propped up by a bunch of promises no reasonable person thinks he’s going to keep. He’s not going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. You can show the consequences of voting based on being angry at immigrants.”

Campaign insiders said they believed the Brexit vote, which resulted on Friday in a 611-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average, could actually scare Democratic voters not to be complacent in November.

Trump viewed the historic event as a way to motivate and expand his base. “These voters stood up for their nation — they put the United Kingdom first, and they took their country back,” he said in a fundraising plea sent Friday evening. “With your help, we’re going to do the exact same thing on Election Day 2016 here in the United States of America.”

The vote also underscored Clinton's difficult task of uniting the party and bringing Sanders' voters into the fold. “Hillary's going to need to figure out an effective way to address that anxiety among left-leaning, working-class voters,” said Ben Tulchin, who served as a Sanders’ campaign pollster.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton surrogate, agreed the real concern for Clinton is not Trump’s angry crowds, but appealing to Sanders’ bloc of voters who still need persuading not to stay home on Election Day. That, in turn, could affect the selection of Clinton’s vice presidential pick. “Tim Kaine voted for TPP,” Rendell noted, referring to the Virginia senator who currently tops her list. “That makes it difficult to get that last 10 percent of Sanders supporters to turn out and vote. That’s our test.”

Both sides agree that while it’s too soon to fully understand the political ramifications of Thursday’s vote, it shouldn’t be overlooked.

“In the short term, it's certainly a warning,” said Republican strategist Kevin Madden, a former top adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. “But in the long term, this will be a race between the campaigns to see which of them can be first when it comes to effectively addressing the anxieties of an electorate that's sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Daniel Strauss contributed to this report.

