Walker hits Clinton over union ties

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker criticized Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton on Tuesday for favoring “big-labor special interests.”

In an op-ed for The Des Moines Register, the GOP presidential candidate said that Clinton’s campaign “has been defined by closed-door meetings and carefully choreographed events designed to shield her” from voters. 

{mosads}“Much of Clinton’s time was spent in meetings with union bosses,” Walker wrote, referring to Clinton’s visit to the Hawkeye State over the weekend. “The fact that Clinton is shunning everyday Iowans in favor of big-labor special interests sends a clear message about where her true loyalties lie.”

Clinton allies hit back, saying Walker “repeatedly prioritizes the needs of billionaires” over working families.

“[H]is failed leadership in Wisconsin has led to stagnant job creation, a weak economy and massive deficits. No wonder he wants to talk about someone else,” Adrienne Watson, communications director for the pro-Clinton group Correct The Record, said in a statement sent to The Hill.

Walker, who, based on recent polls, sits atop a GOP field of more than a dozen candidates in the early voting state of Iowa, has regularly invoked his fights with labor unions during his tenure in Wisconsin.

In his op-ed, Walker touted his efforts against the collective bargaining rights of public sector employees, dinging Clinton for a union convention over the weekend. 

“Liberal union bosses, like those Clinton is meeting with this weekend, fought our reforms tooth and nail, organizing 100,000 protesters to occupy our state capitol grounds. Unintimidated by their attacks and protests, we took them on and we won,” Walker wrote.

Clinton touted aspects of her newly unveiled climate plan during a speech in Iowa on Monday. 

This story was updated at 11:35 a.m.