GOP Opposed Commerce Department Because It Was Run By "A Black Democrat"

Clinton's diatribe immediately followed a discussion of how he should pitch the successful outcomes of the administration's crime policy, which dovetailed into a larger discussion of Republican opposition to Clinton's administration. "I mean, they've taken a laundry list, and everything we did, if it's really working, they really want to get rid of it," Clinton said. That's when the president began griping about the Republicans targeting the Commerce Department for possible elimination, indicating that race was a factor. "They will get rid of the Department of Commerce so they'll never have to remember that Ron Brown, a black Democrat, was better than all their big, corporate muckety-mucks that make American jobs. I mean, it's crazy. It's unbelievable." An unnamed aide asked Clinton if that sentence should go into the State of the Union address. There was laughter in the room. "No," Clinton responded, "but I mean, they need a rabies shot."

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