Former President Bill Clinton channeled some of the relief inside the Democratic National Convention hall on Wednesday when he said “a weight is lifted off our shoulders” as he praised Kamala Harris and saluted President Joe Biden for withdrawing.
The comment was candid in praising Harris for choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Clinton, a former Arkansas governor, praised Walz’s coaching experience and his ability as a “sharpshooter” who supported a ban on assault weapons.
“Kamala Harris, armed with her first decision, faces an interesting dilemma,” he said. Then, he added: “We’ll come out of here feeling pretty good, I think. We’re energized, we’re happy. We feel like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.” And we know that we are being asked to fight the same battle that the forces of progress have had to fight for 250 years. And in the face of tough and often violent opposition, we have to find “This is a good way to move forward together,” Clinton said.
He made the comment on a night when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, credited with helping to propel Biden to the presidency with her public and private actions, received a warm welcome from the crowd, who now faces an election with a candidate who is surging in the polls.
Like Barack Obama, the Clintons had issued a statement supporting President Biden after his debate disaster last month, but some of their former aides joined former Obama officials in calling for Biden to be replaced.
Clinton made the load-lifting comment in a 28-minute speech where she compared Biden to George Washington for caving to calls to end his campaign as he faces a potential crushing defeat in battleground states against Donald Trump.
“And then he did something that’s really hard to do: He voluntarily gave up political power,” Clinton said. “George Washington knew that and he did it. And he set the standard for us to serve two terms before it was mandatory. It added to his legacy and it will enhance Joe Biden’s legacy.”
“We’re energized, we’re happy. We feel like a weight has been lifted,” President Bill Clinton said during his speech at the convention on Wednesday, where delegates have rallied behind Kamala Harris and where polls show her far ahead of President Biden.
“It’s a stark contrast to what’s going on in the other party. So I want to thank you for your courage, your compassion, your class, your service, your sacrifice,” Clinton said, drawing a round of applause for Biden, her political contemporary who left for a vacation in California after finishing his own convention speech after midnight.
Clinton once mentioned Barack Obama, calling him “the ultimate explainer” after his 2012 convention speech was applauded for its persuasiveness. He also bored convention attendees with his 1988 speech.
This time, he peppered his speech in support of Kamala Harris with jokes about the candidate herself (he once mispronounced her name during his remarks).
Clinton referenced his past as a voracious fast-food consumer to defend Kamala Harris at the Democratic convention.
Harris, as her campaign has been reminding voters, spent part of her youth working at McDonald’s, the kind of blue-collar job that allows her to present a contrast to billionaire Donald Trump, the scion of a real estate empire.
Clinton said Harris would break her record as the president who has spent the most time at McDonald’s.
Clinton launched multiple attacks against Trump, who is older than her at 78, after the Obamas criticized him on Tuesday night.
Members of the crowd laughed at some of his popular jokes.
“When I was young, I worked at McDonald’s. I would treat everyone with a smile and say, ‘How can I help you?'” Clinton told fellow Democrats in Chicago, where she held her own convention in 1996.
“Now she is at the top of power and still asks: “How can I help you?”
“She’s going to break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s,” Clinton joked, drawing loud laughter from the crowd.
Many delegates and even speakers were young when Clinton’s high cholesterol eating habits made a media splash. In her surprise victory in the 1992 campaign, she ate as much as she could, trying to burn off some calories from time to time.
That was long before his quadruple bypass surgery and slimming vegan diet.
“I love seeing all these young leaders,” Clinton said in her usual Arkansas drawl, her voice growing huskier with age. “They look better and sound better and it will be exciting.”
Clinton noted that he just turned 78, making him the oldest in his family of four.
“And the only personal vanity I want to claim is that I’m still younger than Donald Trump,” Clinton said. The joke underscored how Democrats can now use the age issue to their advantage after getting rid of the 81-year-old president who dominated the primaries.
Clinton praised Harris and took some digs at Trump, though they were often milder than the jibes leveled at Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
“In 2024 we have a pretty clear choice, it seems to me. Kamala Harris for the people. And the other candidate who has shown even more than in the first round that he cares about me and for me. I know which of the two I like better for our country,” Clinton said.
“What does your opponent do with his voice? He talks mostly about himself. So next time you see him, don’t count the lies, count the i’s,” he joked.
“One of the reasons President-in-waiting Harris is doing so well is that we’re all so happy,” Clinton said. “But you should never underestimate your opponent. And these people are really good at distracting us.”
