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Rep. Joaquin Castro On Hillary Clinton's Campaign After Super Tuesday

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Now we're going to turn to Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, who is a supporter of Hillary Clinton. Welcome to the program.

JOAQUIN CASTRO: Thanks for having me.

SHAPIRO: We just heard Sen. Sanders refer to Clinton as establishment people, saying that they accuse him of looking and thinking too big. What do you do with the accusation that Secretary Clinton is too much of an incrementalist, thinks too small?

CASTRO: You know, if you look at Hillary Clinton's biography and how she's spent her life not just in public office, but way before that, she is somebody who's been a fighter for American families. And as president, she'll be just the same way.

SHAPIRO: Now she is projected to have won Virginia and Georgia tonight, those were more or less expected. What about states like Massachusetts and Minnesota? Bernie Sanders is hoping to do pretty well there. Do you think Secretary Clinton will prevail?

CASTRO: Well, I think she'll prevail in the overwhelming majority of states tonight. There are, of course, about a dozen states that are voting, and I think she'll win the overwhelming majority of them, including my home state of Texas.

SHAPIRO: Sen. Sanders raised $6 million yesterday from small donors, which shows he has a pretty passionate base of support. How would you recommend that Secretary Clinton go about winning over those supporters who feel so strongly?

CASTRO: Well, I think she's got to continue doing what she's doing, which is speaking to the issues that Democrats and Americans care about. And I do think that almost everybody out there, including many of the folks - the young folks and others who have been enthused by Sen. Sanders - will be helpful and will support Hillary in the general election if she's the nominee.

SHAPIRO: You say keep doing what she's doing, but is there any adjustment you think she might make to, for example, appeal to young voters who so far, at least, have overwhelmingly not chosen during the Democratic primaries and caucuses?

CASTRO: Well, I mean, I think she's got to speak to the fact that college is not affordable for a lot of students. They're graduating, they're not able to find a job in the area that they've been trained, and they're overloaded with debt that they can't pay back. So, you know, I think she's been talking about it. Certainly, I think she's going to win the primary. If that happens or when that happens, she's got to reach out to the folks who have been propelling Bernie Sanders' campaign. And I think that once she does that, they will be with her in November.

SHAPIRO: Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, surrogate for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, thanks for joining us.

CASTRO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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