Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will be the second female candidate to enter the 2016 presidential race behind Hillary Clinton. Fiorina is running for the Republican nomination and is leaning hard on her years of corporate experience to position herself as an “outsider” to the Washington establishment.
Report from ABC News:
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced her run for president on “Good Morning America” today, calling herself the “best person for the job” while also taking a shot at Hillary Clinton, accusing her of being untrustworthy.
“Yes, I am running for president,” Fiorina told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on “GMA.” “I think I am the best person for the job.”
Fiorina, the first female contender for the GOP nomination, has emerged as a vocal critic of Hillary Clinton in recent months, criticizing her State Department record and family foundation’s acceptance of donations from foreign governments.
“She clearly is not trustworthy, about a whole set of things,” Fiorina said this morning. “She peddled a fiction about [Benghazi, Libya] for a month, she hasn’t been transparent about her server and her emails, and now we see now all of these foreign government donations to the Clinton Global Initiative.”
In a video posted to her new campaign website this morning, Fiorina is shown watching Clinton’s announcement video, before turning it off and saying that “America’s founders never intended for us to have a professional political class.”
Fiorina, who served as CEO of HP from 1999 to 2005, said her business management experience qualifies her to be president. “I understand executive decision-making, which is making a tough call in a tough time,” she said.
Fiorina has never held elected office, but said on “GMA” Monday that Americans she has met traveling the country “believe that we need to return to a citizen government.”
Here is video of her segment this morning on Good Morning America when she makes her announcement:
Fiorina is a long shot for the nomination, mainly because her low name recognition and her lack of prior elected office. However, all that said, she does seem to be connecting with crowds in Iowa as she travels the state. I think her message is being well-received as she’s not been afraid to tackle the big issues or take on Hillary Clinton directly. I could truly see her name in serious consideration for the vice presidential spot if she does not become the nominee.
