Mitt Romney Takes His First Shot At Hillary

Mitt Romney's currently doing his 2016 presidential speaking tour, and his latest stop was to dole out campaign advice to Mississippi State University. There, Romney also took a shot at Hillary Clinton, whom he may very well face in the 2016 presidential election; both political veterans are emerging as the frontrunners for their respective parties. If Romney's third presidential run comes to fruition, then we're certainly in for a wild Clinton-bashing ride.

Although Romney has yet to announce that he's going after the Oval Office for the third time, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican challenger has been making the rounds on the GOP circuit. Most recently, Romney spoke at a Republican National Committee dinner in San Diego, where he he criticized the foreign policy track record of the Obama administration — with an emphasis on Clinton, who served as secretary of state between 2009 and 2013.

Wednesday's speech at MSU was no different. But first, he let the students know who they were dealing with. "As you’ve no doubt heard, I’m already rich," Romney joked. Classic Romney.

The businessman-turned-politician called Clinton's past foreign policy strategy "timid" and attacked her for creating instability in Russia and the Middle East:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cluelessly pressed a reset button for Russia, which smiled and then invaded Ukraine, a sovereign nation. The Middle East and much of North Africa is in chaos. China grows more assertive and builds a navy that will be larger than ours in five years. We shrink our nuclear capabilities as Russia upgrades theirs.

But much of Romney's latest campaign has been focused on class inequality and the realities of the poor and middle class. The affluent businessman was regularly criticized during the 2012 election cycle for being out-of-touch with the majority of America, as well as downright classist (who can forget Romney's infamous 47 percent comment, which exuded some flat-out disdain for low-income Americans).

On Wednesday, Romney elaborated on his newfound working-class campaign, saying he has a renewed focus on creating jobs — for not just the rich — in America. "We need to restore opportunity, particularly for the middle class," Romney told MSU students. "You deserve a job that can repay all you've spent and borrowed to go to college."

He also seemed to do a complete 180 from 2012, brushing off the upper class with a wave of the hand. "The rich are fine in America," Romney said. "They're fine almost regardless of who's the president."

Clinton, however, did not escape criticism on the economy, either. Romney took another swipe at his potential rival, saying, "How can Secretary Clinton provide opportunity for all if she doesn't know where jobs come from in the first place?"

It looks like Romney is trying to set up Clinton as the one who's too rich to be in touch with the majority of Americans, a criticism that has been alleged against the former secretary of state in the past year over her exorbitant speaking fees and the like. Not to mention her unfortunate "dead broke" gaffe in 2014.

Will the 2016 presidential election end up being the battle of the riches? Only time — and more Romney speaking engagements — will tell.

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