McAuliffe: Hillary Connects Because Her Mom Was Abandoned in 1920s

Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” long-time Clinton ally and the current governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe who gave the Clinton’s a loan to buy their mansion in Chappaquiddick after their departure from the White House, said Hillary understands and connects with everyday Americans because when her mother was eight in the 1920s she was “abandoned.”

According to a 2011 article by Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times Hilary’s mom, Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham and her younger sister were sent to live with  their paternal grandparents in Alhambra, CA after her parents divorced in 1927.

Host Chuck Todd asked, “You gave them a bridge loan for the house. People will see that and say they didn’t have nothing. They had huge earning power. They had nothing compared to a lot of rich friends. Is this something she’s got to fix if she is going to connect with everyday Americans?”

McAuliffe  answered, “I don’t want to spend too much time going back to the late 1990s, 2000s. I was friends with them since 1980. I cannot tell you the distress in that family with all the issues, legal fees, banks refusing to give them a mortgage. People go through tough financial times.”

He added, “Remember, Hillary’s mother, she was abandoned. That’s why Hillary’s always been a fighter, the child needs someone to be a guardian for them. She came up in a middle class family. Look at her background — look at her today, obviously, years later, but her growing up, middle class roots as I say her own mother was abandoned. You never forget that. that’s why Hillary is out every day talking to voters about how can I make your life better?”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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