President Bill Clinton spoke at the third night of the DNC on Wednesday and cam ready with gratitude for President Biden and a few zingers for Donald Trump. Clinton first thanked Biden for his “courage, class, service, and sacrifice” before he also joked that at 78, “the only personal vanity I want to assert, is that I’m still younger than Donald Trump.”
The heart of Clinton’s message was about security and freedom in the US. “We the people, we have to make a decision about these kinds of questions. Every four years it’s a little different … [the people] say, as they’re saying now, ‘Here are our problems, solve them. Here are our opportunities, seize them. Here are our fears, ease them. Here are our dreams, help them come true.’”
“A president can answer that call by saying, ‘I’ll do my part, but you have to help me, we have to work together,’” Clinton continued. Or, he added, a president can choose to dodge and deflect the work that must be done.
The choice that Americans are faced with are between Vice President Harris or “The other guy, whose proved … that he’s about me, myself, and I,” Clinton said. “I know which one I like better for our country.”
Clinton also spoke about Harris’ early job experience at McDonald’s and added, “I will be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president, because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s.”
The former president looked back on his experience in the White House fondly, even “the toughest days” because “if you tried hard enough, there was always something good you could do for somebody else.”
“Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision, the experience, the temperment, the will and, yes, the sheer joy to get something done,” Clinton said.
The next time Trump speaks, he recommended, “Don’t count the lies. Count the Is.” Trump is like a tenor who warms up saying “me, me, me” Clinton added, “When Kamala Harris is president, every day is you, you you.”
The 42nd president also had a lot of praise for vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a “championship-winning coach” who is “on our team.” Harris “knocked it out of the park” when she brought Walz on as her running mate.
“You just look at Tim Walz, listen to him, follow his record as a teacher, as a coach, as a National Guard, as a Congressman … and then he became a great Governor and, by all accounts, he was a crack shot who had the courage among his rural constituents to say, ‘We do not need these assault weapons available to people who can kill our kids in school,’” Clinton said.
Of the upcoming election, Clinton told the crowd, “In the face of stiff and often violent opposition, we have to find a way to go forward together. Where we the people make our union more perfect. So, that’s a good thing. How can we possibly lose? Kamala Harris has fought for kids her whole life, that were left out and left behind … she’s fought to protect the rights of homeowners, she’s been our leader in the fight for reproductive freedoms, and we know the majority of American people are with us on that.”
“And she’s gained an invaluable amount of experience as vice president … she’s already said she’s going to work really hard to make sure no American working full time lives in poverty, or has to worry about their children living in poverty,” he continued.
Clinton closed his speech with words of advice for Democrats.
“We’ve seen more than one election slip away from us, when we thought it couldn’t happen,” Clinton warned. “This is a brutal, tough business … one of the reasons that President-to-be Harris is doing so well is that we’re all so happy. But you should never underestimate your adversary, and these people are really good at distracting us.”
“We’ve gotta be tough,” he continued. “As somebody who’s spent a lot of time in small towns, in rural areas … I urge you to talk to all your neighbors. I urge you to meet people where they are. I urge you not to demean them, but not to pretend that you don’t disagree with them if you do. Treat them with respect, just the way you’d like them to treat you.”
“We Democrats right now have a lot of hay in the barn,” Clinton said. “But there’s still a lot of slips between today and election day that we have to navigate. And so, I want to say this from the bottom of my heart. I have no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to. I started in ’76 and I’ve been to every one since — no, ’72. Lord, I’m getting old.”
“Here’s what I want you to know: if you vote for this team, if you can get them elected and let them bring in this breath of fresh air, you’ll be proud of it for the rest of your life. Your children will be proud of it. Your grandchildren will be proud of it,” he said as the crowd cheered. “Take it from a man who once had the honor to be called in his convention, a man of hope, we need Kamala Harris, the president of joy, to lead us.”
“So, I’ll be doing my part, you do yours. I’ll see you when we’re making a real joyful noise when the votes are counted,” he finished.
You can watch moments from President Clinton’s speech in the videos above.
