Hillary Clinton made history Thursday night at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia as the first woman to accept the nomination of a major American political party for president of the United States.
Introduced to the audience by her daughter Chelsea, Clinton’s speech was hard-hitting and gave no quarter, moving methodically through a checklist of issues that had been mentioned by Sanders and Trump, after initial thanks.
“I want to thank Bernie Sanders. Bernie, your campaign inspired millions of Americans. To all of your supporters here and around the country: I want you to know, I’ve heard you. You’ve put economic and social justice issues front and center, where they belong,” she said.
The “woman thing” was big; Clinton’s daughter spent most of her speech talking about her mother’s commitment to family and women’s issues. Clinton herself returned to the theme repeatedly during her own speech as well. “If fighting for affordable child care and paid family leave is playing the woman card, then deal me in!” she emphasized, to wild cheers from the crowd.
She said she was “proud” of the Iran nuclear deal signed last year with the five world powers led by the United States. “I’m proud that we put a lid on Iran’s nuclear program without firing a single shot — now we have to enforce it, and keep supporting Israel’s security,” she said. Later in her speech, she again tossed in a single reference to Israel, again the lone throwaway line, “and we must keep supporting Israel’s security,” tucked in among other items on her laundry list. But she offered no details, nor did she make any other reference to America’s strongest ally in the region.
"America is stronger because of President Obama's leadership, and I am better because of his friendship." —Hillary pic.twitter.com/d1Kv4iUHqo— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 29, 2016
Emphasizing that Trump has “bombast” but “no plan” Clinton offered her own strategy for dealing with the Da’esh terrorist organization: “Strike ISIS from the air and support local forces taking them out on the ground.”
She also took the opportunity to add, “Donald Trump says, and this is a quote, ‘I know more about ISIS than even the generals do.’ No Donald, you don’t.”
Doubling down on her opponent, she accused Trump of disrespect for the nation’s military, using his off-the-cuff slap at the Obama Administration calling the military a “disaster” as a springboard as an opportunity to scold him: “Our military is a national treasure. A president should respect the men and women who risk their lives to serve their country.”
To the delegates, she said, “Just ask yourselves, do you really think Donald Trump has the temperament to be a president of the United States? He loses his cool at the drop of a hat. Donald Trump can’t even handle the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign. Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis.
“A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons,” Clinton warned.
A former member of the White House Secret Service detail assigned to the Clinton family who was interviewed by Sean Hannity Thursday night on Fox News warned, however, that Hillary Clinton’s temperament is equally touchy. In fact, he said, there were times that Clinton was downright abusive and ‘staff was terrified.” She was charming “when big donors were around,” but could be vicious at other times, he said.
Producers of the introduction video prior to her appearance made sure to insert a quick photo of Clinton sitting with President Barack Obama and other officials during the Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Maqdis al Sharia terrorist siege of the US Consulate and the CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya.