Hillary Clinton gave her former rival Donald Trump a taste of his own medicine as she smiled and nodded as the Democratic National Convention audience began chanting “lock him up.”
During the 2016 election, Trump led his MAGA base in “lock her up” taunts against Clinton over the scandal involving her State Department emails.
On Monday, Clinton cited Trump’s own legal troubles as she pushed for the United States to finally vote for its first female president, strongly backing Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
“As prosecutor, Kamala put murderers and drug dealers behind bars. She will never rest in defense of our freedom and security,” Clinton said.
“Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial,” he continued. “When he woke up, he had made his own history: He was the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.”
From there, the crowd took the initiative and started chanting: “Lock him up!”
Clinton did nothing to stop it.
Hillary Clinton gave her former rival Donald Trump a taste of his own medicine as she smiled and nodded as the Democratic National Convention audience began chanting “lock him up.”
Hillary Clinton arrives on stage during Monday night’s session of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. She was wearing her signature suffragette white and spoke of women breaking barriers.
The country’s first female candidate for a major party spent most of her speech talking about finally breaking the glass ceiling.
“Something is happening in America,” he said at the beginning of his speech. “You can feel it. It’s something we’ve worked for and dreamed of for a long time.”
She commented on how her mother was born “right here in Chicago” and before women had the right to vote.
“That changed 104 years ago yesterday,” Clinton continued, wearing her signature suffragette white. “Since that day, every generation has carried the torch forward.”
He recalled Shirley Chisholm’s bid for the White House in 1972 and Geraldine Ferraro’s bid for vice president in 1984.
“And then came 2016,” Clinton said.
“It was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for president,” he said. “Nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no limits to our dreams.”
Still, Clinton lost to Trump.
“After that, we refused to give up on America. Millions of people marched. Many ran for office. We kept our eyes on the future,” he said.
“Well, my friends, the future is here,” the former candidate proclaimed.
“I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us,” she added.
He spoke of Harris’s “character, experience and vision,” contrasting it with Trump’s behavior.
“As commander in chief, Kamala will not disrespect veterans; she will revere our Medal of Honor recipients,” Clinton said, referring to comments Trump made last week in Bedminster. “She certainly won’t be sending love letters to dictators.”
The former Secretary of State criticized Trump for “lying about Kamala’s record.”
“He’s making fun of his name and his laugh,” Clinton said. “It sounds familiar,” she said dryly, earning laughter.
“We have him on the run right now,” she continued. “But no matter what the polls say, we can’t give up. We can’t get sucked into crazy conspiracy labyrinths. We have to fight for the truth. We have to fight for Kamala, just like she’s fighting for us.”
“Because you know what? It still takes a village,” the former first lady said. “To raise a family, to heal a country, to win a campaign.”
Recalling how she ended her 2008 and 2016 campaigns, Clinton said: “Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest and hardest glass ceiling.”
“Tonight, as I stand on the cusp of breaking through once and for all, I want to tell you what I see through all those cracks and why it matters to each and every one of us,” he said. “What do I see? I see freedom.”
“The freedom to make our own decisions about our health, our lives, our loves, our families,” Clinton said.
“I see the freedom to look our children in the eye and say: In America, you can go as far as your hard work and talents take you. And mean it,” she said.
Harris would break barriers as the first female president and the first female president of color.
“On the other side of that glass ceiling stands Kamala Harris, being sworn in as our 47th president of the United States,” Clinton said to cheers.
“When a barrier falls for one of us, the way opens for all of us,” he added.
Before leaving the stage, with her 2016 title track Fight Song, she explained why she considered this moment so important.
“I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know that I was here,” the 76-year-old said. “That we were here. And that we were with Kamala every step of the way.”