Bill Clinton defends Hillary's 'dead broke' claims

Former US President Bill Clinton has defended his wife overnight amid allegations that she is “out of touch”.

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Former US president Bill Clinton sits with his wife former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (AAP)

Hillary Clinton has been criticised over her handling of questions about her family’s personal wealth after telling American media outlet ABC News that she and her husband were “dead broke" after leaving the White House in 2001.

The former US Secretary of State also told the Guardian that her family were not “truly well off”.

Speaking to NBC News on Tuesday, Mr Clinton said the comment were “factually true”.

“We were several million dollars in debt,” he said.

Ms Clinton has been the centre of media attention for weeks as she promotes her book and faces questions about a potential bid for the presidency.

Her release, titled “Hard Choices”, has made headlines in Australia for its claims that “outrageous sexism” had been levelled at former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Clinton to visit Australia

Mr Clinton’s comments come ahead of his visit to Australia next month.

The former US President will be joining campaigner Sir Bob Geldof as one of the speakers at AIDS 2014 in Melbourne.

Victorian Minister for Health David Davis welcomed the announcement yesterday, saying Mr Clinton was a “global change agent”.

Mr Davis said President Clinton has a strong track record in advocating for treatment in disadvantaged communities around the world.

“When the Clinton Health Access Initiative was founded in 2002, only 200,000 people were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS in low and middle income countries, with medicines that cost over $10,000 per person per year,” he said.

“Now, more than a decade later, more than eight million people are receiving treatment and CHAI has helped reduce the cost of medicines to around $100 to $200 per person per year in many countries.”

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By Stephanie Anderson



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