Hillary Clinton praises previous Republican presidents before training her fire on ‘dangerous’ Donald Trump
Clinton noted boxer Muhammad Ali’s passing as she said that in the United States, people are judged by their actions, not their race, ethnicity or religion.
It’s rare for a Democratic presidential candidate to rally the base by praising the Republicans who have held the White House in recent decades. But Hillary Clinton did just that on Saturday as she argued that Donald Trump is unqualified to hold the office.
Clinton noted that she had met Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as her husband, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, for whom she served as secretary of State.
They all carried themselves as men who understand the seriousness and responsibility of the job
“They were of different political parties, we know that, and I sure didn’t agree with everything they did,” she said of the Republicans to hundreds of cheering supporters in a stuffy high school gym in Oxnard.
“I will tell you this, they all carried themselves, presented themselves, as men who understand the seriousness and responsibility of the job. They each, with their own backgrounds and experiences, came to the office of the presidency and to the duties of commander in chief with a sense of awe and honour.”
Trump fails to meet this standard, she said, pointing to his recent attacks on a San Diego-based federal judge as another example of his divisiveness.
Judge Gonzalo Curiel is presiding over a civil lawsuit that accuses Trump University of defrauding its students. In recent days, Trump has repeatedly said Curiel is incapable of fairly overseeing the trial because of his Mexican heritage.
“This is not just another outlandish, insulting comment from Donald Trump and it is not normal politics,” Clinton said. “This is something much more dangerous.”