Clinton slams Trump as egocentric, vengeful – and outdated: ‘Do you want to spend four years counting the crowd size?’ | EUROtoday

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Bill Clinton tore into Donald Trump whereas touting Kamala Harris’s management on Wednesday on the Democratic National Convention in Chicago – in a speech in search of to assist shepherd his celebration into a brand new period.

Clinton leaned closely into the function of elder statesman in his remarks whereas describing Trump as self-centered and positioning Harris, the Democratic nominee, because the pure reverse.

He started by referencing his age — notable by the marginally raspy voice and shake within the arms — whereas nonetheless getting in a dig at Trump.

“Two days in the past I turned 78 — the oldest man in my household,” Clinton remarked. “And the only personal vanity I want to assert, is that I’m still younger than Donald Trump.”

The joke drew laughs before Clinton pushed deeper into his criticism of Harris’s rival. “[H]ow does Donald Trump use his voice? Mostly to talk about himself—his vengeance, vendettas, complaints, conspiracies.”

“The next time you hear him, don’t count the lies—count the I’s. He’s like the tenor warming up before the opera: me, me, me, me.”

Clinton then delivered rapid-fire remarks, making references to a few of Trump’s extra distinctive rally themes.

“Do you want to build a strong economy from the bottom up and the middle out? Or do you want to spend the next four years talking about crowd sizes? … Do you want to strengthen our alliances and stand up for freedom and democracy around the world?” he mentioned.

“Or a tribute to the ’late great’ Hannibal Lecter? Do you want to save our country and our world from the calamities of climate change? Or obsess on the vital debate between getting eaten by sharks or electrocuted?”

He then mirrored on Trump’s debate efficiency. “I almost croaked during the first debate when Trump said ‘nobody respect America anymore’ like they did when he was president,” Clinton mentioned.

“And with a straight face! Look, you gotta give it [to him] — he’s a good actor.”

While Clinton didn’t echo the mantra which Harris’s marketing campaign has embraced, “we’re not going back”, he did his finest to set the Vice President aside because the candidate of the longer term, with Trump representing the previous.

“I want an America that’s more joyful, inclusive, and future-focused. Where we weather the storms and earn the benefits together. That’s the America Kamala Harris will lead,” Clinton mentioned.

“Donald Trump—a paragon of consistency—is still dividing, blaming, and belittling. He creates and curates chaos. It’s showmanship, but it’s not leadership.”

Clinton’s forceful however stoic tone contrasted with the energetic and aggressive message from one other former president, Barack Obama on Tuesday. It leaned into portray Harris because the youthful candidate representing America’s future in a manner that solely an emblem of the celebration’s previous may actually do.

Clinton’s speech, in response to reviews, was rewritten after he noticed the primary day of the conference. Some seen on Wednesday that he learn it off paper, as a substitute of from the teleprompter.

He additionally delivered maybe probably the most somber second of the evening, a recognition of his place within the background of the celebration’s future which Joe Biden had solely brushed at throughout his personal “passing the torch” remarks, spoken to the gang late Monday night, pushed out of primetime by youthful audio system.

“I have no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to,” mentioned Clinton, noting that he had began coming to conventions in “1976 – no, 1972.”

Clinton additionally thanked Biden immediately for selecting to step apart for Harris, one thing he in comparison with the choice of George Washington to step down after his second time period, which set the two-term precedent adopted to the trendy period.

“[H]e did one thing that is actually onerous for a politician to do: he voluntarily gave up political energy,” said Clinton. “George Washington knew that. And he 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.”

His remarks had been adopted by one other image of the celebration’s previous, Nancy Pelosi, who has actively embraced a shifting function which has included giving up the reins of the House Democratic caucus to Hakeem Jeffries.

Pelosi, who went willingly into her new backbencher place, was seen as a key participant concerned in pushing Biden in the direction of making the choice to step down from the Democratic ticket final month.

Harris’s operating mate Tim Walz is the keynote speaker for the next-to-last evening of the conference; Harris herself will ship her handle on the ultimate evening Thursday night.