Vermont Democratic candidate for governor Christine Hallquist admitted Wednesday morning, after bashing capitalism, that she has no idea what socialism is, insisting that she is not “big on labels.”
Appearing on CNN’s “New Day” with host John Berman one day after becoming America’s first transgender governor nominee, Hallquist bemoaned capitalism, despite capitalism’s track record of lifting billions out of poverty.
“Well, you know, I’m not a person that’s big on labels because I’ve found labels are used to separate people,” Hallquist told Berman. “You know, I look at the platform of a living wage and health care for all, that’s called civilized society. I don’t even know how that became socialism … let’s be a civilized society.”
Berman responded by asking: “Do you support capitalism?”
“Obviously the long history of measuring ourselves by increasing gross domestic product is a flawed measure because that just encourages consumption, and we can see what consumption is doing to our world,” Hallquist said, without offering any further explanation.
Berman continued by pressing Hallquist into stating whether or not she aligned more closely with socialism or capitalism, saying, “It does sound like you look more favorably … on the ideas behind socialism.”
“Well, yes, and I’m not sure I even know what socialism is,” Hallquist responded. “So I just don’t have the background to answer that question.”
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