Hillary Clinton muses over Bernie Sanders' supporters in leaked audio recording

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Clinton and Sanders

Brian Snyder/Reuters

Clinton and Sanders

Hillary Clinton was apparently looking for ways to appeal to Bernie Sanders supporters during a contentious Democratic primary campaign, according to leaked audio revealed this week.

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A report from Politico on Friday noted that the recording, taken from a private fundraiser held in February, showed Clinton laying out her assessment of Sanders voters.

In the throes of the Democratic primary campaign, citizens rooting for Sanders saw the Vermont senator as the arbiter of a political revolution. Clinton described some of them as "children of the Great Recession" who are frustrated by a sluggish economy.

"They are living in their parents' basement," Clinton said. "They feel they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves. And they don't see much of a future."

Here's more from Clinton:

"If you're feeling like you're consigned to, you know, being a barista, or you know, some other job that doesn't pay a lot, and doesn't have some other ladder of opportunity attached to it, then the idea that maybe, just maybe, you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing."

Seemingly looking for ways to reach such voters, Clinton suggested she might employ methods that were more moderate than those on the far-left and far-right.

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The former secretary of state appeared to be at once baffled by the "populist, nationalist, xenophobic" rhetoric on the right, and empathetic to supporters on the left who seek "free college, free healthcare," and who feel like "what we've done hasn't gone far enough."

Sanders eventually endorsed Clinton after she secured enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination. The two campaigned together this week in New Hampshire.

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