/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f3c8cab449e715400949bec/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4560&cropY1=666&cropY2=3647&w=1920&resize=1920,0&ssl=1 "‘The Buck Never Stops There’: Bill Clinton Tears Into Trump’s ‘Chaos’ Presidency")
TOPLINE
Former President Bill Clinton offered the most scathing criticism on the night of President Trump at the Democratic Convention, tearing into his coronavirus response, his handling of the economy and his overall ability to do the job.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 18: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton delivers a speech by video feed … [+]
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KEY FACTS
Clinton kicked off his speech by calling presidential elections “the world’s most important job interview,” telling voters, “you have to decide whether to renew his contract or hire someone else.”
“If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he’s your man,” Clinton said of Trump.” Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you’re trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses.”
Clinton took particular aim at Trump’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, excoriating him for saying the virus would “disappear,” going on television “bragging about how he was doing,” ignoring expert advice and finally saying “it is what it is.”
“At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it’s a storm center. There’s only chaos,” Clinton said, adding that the one thing about the administration that “never changes” is Trump’s “determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame.”
“The buck never stops there,” Clinton said, referring to a mantra started by President Harry Truman about the president’s obligation to be accountable.
Clinton praised Biden as a “go-to-work president” and a “down-to-earth, get-the-job done guy,” who “helped bring us back from a recession” who is “committed to building America back again.”
Crucial Quote
“You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years: blame, bully, and belittle. And you know what Joe Biden will do: build back better,” Clinton concluded. “It’s Trump’s ‘Us vs. Them’ America against Joe Biden’s America, where we all live and work together. It’s a clear choice. And the future of our country is riding on it.”
Key Background
Clinton’s speech came just hours after photos of him receiving a back massage from Chaunties Davies, one of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking victims, surfaced. Epstein recruiter Ghislaine Maxwell urged Davies to give Clinton the massage, according to the Daily Mail, which first reported the photos. However, Davies told the Mail there was “no foul play,” and that Clinton was a “perfect gentleman.”
Chief Critic
Though Donald Trump Jr. and other Republicans were quick to seize on the photos before the speech, President Trump took aim at Clinton after the speech for citing the high number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. “Tell the Dems that we have more Cases because we do FAR more Testing than any other Country,” Trump tweeted, repeating an argument repeatedly debunked by experts.
Big Number
44%. That’s the percent of Democrats who said they would not like to hear Clinton speak in a YouGov/CBS News poll released Sunday. That’s second only to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who has been slammed by some Democrats for his views on abortion and unions.
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