Full speech: Bill Clinton speaks at 2024 DNC | USA TODAY
USA TODAY
Aug 21, 2024
7.14M subscribers ... 118,155 views
#BillClinton #KamalaHarris #DNC
Former President Bill Clinton made the case for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz over Donald Trump on Day 3 of the 2024 Democratic Convention.
#BillClinton #KamalaHarris #DNC
Transcript
- 0:00
- to the Republicans and independents that
- have joined us have been up here on the
- stage and I hope they feel better about
- it
- now
- because I've seen all these things
- that even I have to be reminded of from
- time to time when I get my spirits
- down I love seeing the Obamas here I
- love seeing President
- Biden
- and I thought Hillary gave a great
- speech too and
- uh I
- love but I I love seeing all these young
- leaders bunch of them are coming up
- after
- me they look better they sound better
- and they'll be
- [Music]
- exciting I do want to say one word about
- President Biden
- 1:03
- remember he had an
- improbable
- turn that made him
- president and we were in the middle of a
- pandemic and an economic
- crash he healed our sick and put the
- rest of us back to
- work and
- he strengthened our
- alliances for peace and security he
- stood up for Ukraine trying desperately
- to get a ceasefire in the Middle
- East and then he did something that's
- really hard for a politician to do he
- voluntarily gave up political power
- and George Washington knew that and he
- 2:02
- did
- it and he set the standard for us
- serving two terms before it was
- mandatory it helped his
- legacy and it will enhance Joe Biden's
- Legacy and
- you and it's a stark
- contrast to what goes on in the other
- party so I want want to thank
- him for his courage
- compassion his class his service his
- sacrifice Joe
- Biden he kept the faith that and he's
- 3:01
- infected a lot of the rest of us now
- let's cut to the
- chase I am too old to Gil the
- Lily two days ago I turned 78 the oldest
- man in my family of four
- generation and the only personal vanity
- I want to assert is I'm still younger
- than Donald Trump
- last
- night last night in what I thought was a
- very
- moving series of episodes we
- nominated commel Harris and Tim Waltz
- and just think about
- that two
- leaders with all Amer but still
- 4:00
- improbable life
- stories It could only happen here their
- careers after all started in community
- courtrooms and
- classrooms two leaders who spent a
- lifetime getting the good job
- done now one of the things that I've
- noticed over my increasingly long life
- that a is a a presidential election is
- unique unique in several ways first of
- all it's the greatest job interview for
- the greatest job in the
- world
- secondly the Constitution says we the
- people get to do the
- hiring and the third thing
- is that every four years we get to
- change the requirements for the job
- 5:03
- so here's what I'm
- thinking cuz I try to apply this in
- every election will this
- President take us backward or
- forward will this
- President give our kids a brighter
- future
- depends will this
- President bring us together or tear us
- apart will the president increase the
- peace security and stability and freedom
- that we enjoy and extend it to others as
- we
- can we the
- people we have to make a decision about
- these kind of
- questions and every four years it's a
- little different because the people come
- 6:00
- at the candidates come at the candidates
- and they 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
- or you can dodge what needs to be done
- by dividing distracting and diverting
- us so in 2024 we got a pretty clear
- 7:00
- choice it seems to
- me Comm Harris for the
- people
- and the other guy who's proved even more
- than the first go
- around that he's about me myself and I
- I know which one I like better for our
- country Comm Harris will work to solve
- our problems seize our opportunities
- ease our fears and make sure every
- single
- American however they
- vote has a chance to chase their
- dreams you know
- 8:03
- when she was young she worked at
- McDonald's and she greeted every person
- with that thousand wat smile and said
- how can I help
- you now she's at the Pinnacle of power
- and she's still asking how can I help
- you I will
- be I'll 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
- [Applause]
- McDonald's
- now but we got an election to win
- and remember we've got a guy that's
- 9:01
- pretty good at what he does Donald Trump
- has been a paragon of
- consistency he's still dividing he's
- still blaming he's still belittling
- other people he creates chaos and then
- he sort of curates
- it as if it were precious
- art let me
- say not a single day goes
- by even though I've been gone for well
- over 23 years from the White House not a
- day goes by that I don't thank the Lord
- for the chance I had to serve and what
- it
- meant
- and one of the
- reasons thank you
- 10:01
- wait wait wait
- wait one of the
- reasons one of the reasons I love the
- job so
- much is that in the toughest
- times even on the darkest days if you
- tried hard enough there was always
- something good you could do for somebody
- else now
- some days that's not easy to do You' got
- to deal with all these emergencies or
- there's something going on here there
- yonder
- but common
- Harris is the only candidate in this
- race who has the vision the experience
- the
- temperament the
- will and yes the sheer
- joy to get something done
- 11:02
- I mean look what does your opponent do
- with his voice he mostly talks about
- himself
- right so the next time
- you hear him don't count the
- lies count the
- eyes hey eyes
- his vendettas his
- Vengeance his complaints his
- conspiracies he's like one of those
- teners opening
- up before he walks out on stage like I
- did trying to get his lungs open by
- saying me me me me me me
- [Applause]
- 12:01
- when Cela Harris is President Every Day
- will'll begin with youu you you
- you
- so we got to ask ourselves the questions
- that we're going to hire a president Do
- you want to build a strong economy from
- the bottom up in the middle out or do
- you want to spend the next four years
- talking
- about crowd
- size you're going to have a hard time
- believing this but so help me I triple
- checked
- it since the end of the Cold War in
- 1989 America has created about 51
- million new jobs
- 13:03
- I swear I checked this three times even
- I couldn't believe it what's the score
- Democrats 50 Republicans one
- I'm
- glad that we've got
- a championship winning coach on our
- team but even the
- most limited of us in what we know about
- football are eating other sport knows
- 14:00
- that if you're got 50 and the other
- side's got one you're
- ahead what about affordable housing it's
- a terrible problem in America now we
- need
- more
- and affordable health
- care it's why the Democrats put a limit
- on monthly payments for insulin and a
- $2,000 a year out of pocket
- limit and are trying to cover more drugs
- by bargaining for
- prices we need more financing for small
- businesses we need still to strengthen
- our
- alliances I almost croaked in the first
- debate
- of this election
- 15:01
- season when President
- Trump said nobody respected America
- anymore like they did when he was
- president wait wait and with a straight
- [Applause]
- face look you got to give him he's a
- good actor with it with a straight face
- he cited as evidence of the respect that
- existed for us when he was
- there the
- presidents of North Korea and
- Russia I'd rather have the people who
- respect us
- now and one of the
- things one of the things is when you
- send a signal
- to the other
- 16:01
- countries you want them to
- know whether they agree with you or not
- at least that you're on the level that
- here's where you are and what you
- believe what are they supposed to make
- to these endless tributes to the late
- great Hannibal
- [Applause]
- Lector I mean president Obama once gave
- me the great honor of saying I was the
- explainer and chief folks I thought and
- thought about it and I I don't know what
- to
- [Applause]
- say like Hakeem Jeff I too want an
- America that's more
- joyful more inclusive more future folks
- foced just think what a burden it's been
- 17:03
- on us to get up day after day after day
- after day buried in meaningless hot
- rhetoric when there's so many
- opportunities out there so many problems
- that need to be solved I want that and
- that's the America KLA Harris will leave
- she's already made her first
- presidential
- decision and she knocked it out of the
- park when she asked Governor h w to be
- her nominee for vice
- president as they used to
- say when I was a young man growing up in
- Arkansas you do not have to be all broke
- 18:00
- out with
- [Music]
- Brilliance you just look at Tim W listen
- to him follow his
- record as a teacher as a coach in the
- National
- Guard is a
- congressman where he was the only
- Democrat save
- one elected in that District in more
- than a 100
- years and he stayed a long time
- and then he
- became a great
- governor
- and by all accounts he was a
- crackshot 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
- 19:13
- so armed with her first
- decision kamla Harris
- confronts an
- interesting
- dilemma we're going to walk out of here
- feeling pretty good I think
- [Applause]
- we've got energy we are happy we feel
- like a load's off our
- shoulders and we know we're just being
- asked to fight the same
- fight that the forces of progress have
- had to fight for 250
- years in the face of stiff and often
- violent opposition
- we have to find a way to go forward
- 20:03
- together where we the
- people make our Union more
- perfect
- so that's a good
- thing how could we possibly lose KLA
- Harris has fought for kids their whole
- life that were left out and left behind
- she's taken on gangs trafficking across
- the
- Border she's fought to protect the
- rights of homeowners she's been our
- leader in the fight for Reproductive
- freedoms and we know a majority of the
- American people are with us on
- that and she's gained an invaluable
- amount of experience as vice
- president advancing our values and
- interests around the
- world she's she's already said she's
- going to work really hard to make sure
- 21:03
- that no American working full-time lives
- in poverty or has to worry about their
- children living in
- poverty he say that we got to make home
- ownership an achievable dream for
- everyone not just a
- privilege she said
- that it and this meant a lot to me that
- she would protect everybody's right to
- vote whether or not they voted for her
- they were a Citizens and they deserved
- the right to
- vote the other day her opponent implied
- that it's his P vot if people voted one
- more
- time they'd be able to rig it from now
- on and they wouldn't have to vote again
- you think
- they're
- kidding but I know a lot of these folks
- and most of them are really good people
- but some of them think that they are
- bound to dominate America politically
- economically and
- socially and they have to use politics
- to do it and they should rig the
- system I I don't believe
- that
- and so here's what I want to tell
- you we've seen more than one election
- slip away from us when we
- thought it couldn't happen when people
- got distracted by phony
- issues or overc
- competent this is a brutal tough
- business I want you to be happy
- 23:00
- one of the reasons
- that president to be Harris is doing so
- well as it we're all so
- happy but you should never underestimate
- your
- adversary and these people are really
- good at distracting us at triggering
- doubt
- at triggering buyers
- remorse as the Obama said so eloquently
- last night they are human you know
- they're bound to make a mistake now and
- then we got to be
- tough and
- so as somebody who spends a lot of
- time in small towns and rural areas in
- New York and arkans and other
- places I I
- 24:02
- want 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 you don't disagree with
- them if you do treat them with respect
- just the way you'd like them to treat
- you
- ask for their help and then follow our
- leader camela and ask them how can I
- help
- you we Democrats right now have a lot of
- hay in the barn we've got massive
- achievements
- massive
- [Music]
- advances but there's still a lot of
- slips between the day and election day
- that we have to
- 25:01
- 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 everyone
- since but
- no
- 72 Lord I'm getting know but 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 will be proud of it for the rest
- of your life your children will be proud
- of it your grandchildren will be proud
- of it
- 26:10
- take
- it from a man who once had the honor to
- be called in this convention the man
- from
- hope we
- need we need camela Harris the president
- of Geor Bo 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 noise when the votes are
- counted God bless you and God bless
- America
| |