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O’Malley Finds Something to Like in Clinton Emails

2 minute read

While Jeb Bush and Donald Trump are blasting each other for praising Hillary Clinton in the past, one of Clinton’s rivals is now using her past praise for him to raise money.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley sent a fundraising email to supporters Tuesday which noted that the former Secretary of State had said nice things about him in the past.

The praise comes from an email that Clinton sent to her friend Sen. Barbara Mikulski in April 2010, long before the two prepared to run against each other for president, in which Clinton complimented O’Malley profusely ahead of his reelection contest for Maryland governor:

“How’s our friend, Martin, doing?” Clinton said in her note to Mikulski. “I know he has a rematch when he should be reelected by acclamation for steering the ship of state so well. Pls give him my best wishes.”

The Clinton email was released by the State Department Monday as part of a public records request of all of Clinton’s electronic correspondence during her time as Secretary of State.

O’Malley noted Clinton’s praise in his fundraising email, saying he was “flattered,” then switched gears to make his pitch for more debates in the Democratic primary, which have been limited by the Democratic National Committee to six.

“Here’s the thing: I didn’t win in Maryland by acclamation. I won because of supporters like you. I won because we fought for progressive change,” O’Malley wrote. “Democrats are not going to win THIS election by acclamation either. We need more debates to get our positions on the issues in front of voters.”

Read Next: Martin O’Malley Plans Revolt Over Democratic Debate Rules

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