During the Democratic debate in New York on Thursday, Hillary Clinton was asked about the transcripts to the paid speeches she gave to Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs.
She said, “There are certain expectations when you run for President. This is a new one and I’ve said that if everybody agrees to do it, cuz there are speeches for money on the other side, I know that. But I will tell you this, there is a longstanding expectation that everybody running release their tax returns… Let’s set the same standard for everybody… When everybody does it, OK, I will do it. But lets set and expect the same standard on tax returns.”
Bernie Sanders took her up on her offer. First he said: “Secretary Clinton, you just heard her. Everybody else does it, she will do it. I will do it. I am going to release all of the transcripts of the speeches I gave on Wall Street behind closed doors… There were no speeches.”
He then clarified that he would, indeed, release his tax returns, starting with his full 2014 tax return on Friday.
But will Clinton keep up her end of the discussion and release the transcripts of her Goldman Sachs speeches? She did not respond with a promise of her own.
Martin O’Malley posted his own thoughts on Twitter about that exchange:
Said this in 2012 about @MittRomney‘s tax returns, I’ll say it today: @HillaryClinton should release the Wall Street transcripts #DemDebate
The backlash against Clinton’s not releasing her transcripts is growing. In fact, she was even booed at one point during the debate when she spoke about the transcripts. The discussion has sparked hashtag trends on Twitter like #ShowTheTranscripts.