Getty O'Malley slams Clinton's 'shameful' comment on 9/11 and Wall Street ties

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley on Monday slammed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton for her “shameful” response linking 9/11 to her Wall Street donations.

In Saturday’s second Democratic debate, the former senator reminded viewers that she represented New York during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and said much of the support Wall Street has given her stems from that event. “We were attacked in downtown Manhattan, where Wall Street is,” Clinton said. “I did spend a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild. That was good for New York, it was good for the economy and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists who had attacked our country.”


Speaking on CNN’s “New Day,” O’Malley blasted Clinton for what he said was an inappropriate response. “I thought that moment, frankly, was pretty shameful. I don’t believe that the people watching were applauding the notion that Secretary Clinton was pumping out this smokescreen and wrapping herself in the tragedy of 9/11,” he said. “I don’t think they saw that as something appropriate to do, to mask her coziness and her closeness to Wall Street and all of the architects of the crash of 2008.”

O’Malley cited their contrasting stances on Wall Street as a fundamental distinction between the two candidates. While Clinton “subscribes to a sort of crony capitalism” that benefits the big banks, he said, he believes in “traditional fair-market American capitalism.”

“I believe that we should not be on the hook as taxpayers for the bad bets that are made by banks that have grown too big to manage on Wall Street,” he said. “And in that shameful moment I think Secretary Clinton was trying to pump out a smokescreen to cover her tracks on this one.”

