Describing Donald Trump’s speech at the Cleveland convention as a “dark and divisive vision”, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said her Republican rival offered a lot of fear and anger but no solutions about anything that he talked about.
“I heard about Donald Trump’s dark and divisive vision. Last night’s speech took it to a whole new level. He offered a lot of fear and anger and resentment, but no solutions about anything that he even talked about,” Clinton said at an election rally in Tampa, Florida.
Clinton called on Americans to reject the “dark and divisive” vision Trump laid out for America’s future in his convention speech in Cleveland on Thursday night.
Pointing to Trump’s belief that America is in decline and only he can fix it, Clinton argued that Americans are problem-solvers who build bridges not walls.
“He didn’t have a jobs programme, did he? All that talk about keeping people safe; I didn’t hear any plans about what he’s going to do to support our police, to make sure that we are all working together. You could listen to that speech and you could think, my goodness, he believes America is in decline,” the 68-year-old leader said.
“And I’ve got to say, as he said this last night, I was pretty shocked. He said, ‘I alone can fix it’. Now, just think about that for a minute, because it’s really important. His vision of America is one where we Americans are kind of helpless, we need to be rescued,” Clinton said.
“I can’t really imagine him on a white horse, but – that seems to be what he’s telling us: ‘I alone can fix it’. Well, he doesn’t understand that Americans, we Americans, we are strong, big-hearted, result-oriented, generous people in America,” she said.
Clinton said the Republican presidential candidate does not speak for the people of the country.
“Last night Donald told us, ‘I am your voice’. Well, I don’t think he speaks for most Americans, do you? He doesn’t speak for small businesses like the ones he has consistently stiffed and driven into bankruptcy and financial peril. He doesn’t speak for the workmen that he’s employed on his various projects and then refused to pay them,” the former secretary of state said.
“He doesn’t speak for the housekeepers and the cooks and everybody working at a hotel in Las Vegas that he owns that have voted to have a union and he refuses to even talk to them. He doesn’t speak for immigrants; he only speaks against immigrants. He doesn’t speak for people with disabilities,” she said.
Clinton alleged that Trump does not speak for US military, which he has insulted consistently and in particular prisoners of war who sacrifice much of their life because they serve us.
“And contrary to what they tried to say at their convention, I don’t think he speaks for women. I don’t think he speaks for working families who would be devastated by his reckless economic policies. He doesn’t speak for anyone who thinks our country should be standing together not splintering apart,” Clinton said.
“He sure doesn’t speak for me, because I know we are stronger together and that’s what we’re going to be next year,” she said.
At the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next week, Clinton would officially be nominated as the party’s presidential nominee for the November general elections.
Image: US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reacts to the crowd while speaking at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
