Former US leader Bill Clinton blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday, August 19 (Manila time), for making the White House swirl with chaos instead of exercising the competence needed to address the nation’s crises.
Clinton made his comments in a taped speech for the second day of the Democratic National Convention, where Joe Biden is set to be officially nominated as Democratic presidential candidate.
“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.
“Just one thing never changes – his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame,” Clinton said. “The buck never stops there.”
Former US president Jimmy Carter, who also had a taped speech, said on Wednesday: “Joe has the experience, character, and decency to bring us together and restore America’s greatness. We deserve a person with integrity and judgment, someone who is honest and fair, someone who is committed to what is best for the American people.”
Rosalynn Carter, former US first lady, said Biden “recognizes the challenges facing our families and has the heart and the talent to make life better for all Americans.”
Colin Powell, former US secretary of state, said in his own remarks: “Today, we are a country divided, and we have a president doing everything in his power to make it that way and keep us that way. What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us, who restores our strength and our soul.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez likewise lent her voice for Biden during the Democratic event.
“In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of health care, and espíritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America,” she said.
Democrats are gathering virtually over 4 days to formally nominate Biden and showcase why their candidate should replace Trump.
The president faced a barrage of criticism on opening night, most notably from former first lady Michelle Obama who said Trump lacks the character and skills for the job.
“I thought it was a very divisive speech, extremely divisive,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
In her pre-taped remarks to the convention – which has gone almost entirely online because of the coronavirus pandemic – Obama urged Americans to rally behind Biden, her husband’s former vice president, in the November 3 presidential election.
Trump’s White House is marred by “chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy,” Michelle Obama said in unprecedented criticism of a sitting US president by a former first lady.
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” she added. “He is clearly in over his head.” – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com
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