WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The 42nd president Bill Clinton made a stop in Wilmington Friday, telling voters who he thinks should be the 47th president.
“Kamala Harris offers something different,” Clinton said. “She thinks we ought to get back in the business of solving problems, not blaming other people for them.”
The visit at Prost Biergarten in downtown Wilmington was just one of several being made in North Carolina this week. Bill Clinton is on a bus tour across the state, campaigning on behalf of the Harris-Walz presidential campaign.
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and North Carolina representative Deb Butler made brief remarks before Clinton was welcomed to the stage. Clinton told a crowd of dozens of voters he believed there would be a huge difference between another Donald Trump presidency and a Harris presidency.
“She’s got better social policies, she’s got better foreign policies, and most of all they won’t be trying to take away our fundamental liberties,” Clinton said.
Most people in the crowd agreed with Clinton’s sentiments. Some told WECT they believe this is the most important presidential election of their lifetimes.
“I want to support Kamala Harris for president, it’s do or die right now,” event attendee Chiaki Ito said. “I think democracy is at stake right now, so we’re here to defend democracy.”
Clinton spent a lot of his time highlighting some of the differences between the candidates’ economic plans. In his opinion, he doesn’t think Trump’s plan will help fix inflation.
“You need to tell your friends who think everything was really wonderful during those years, first of all, he inherited the last two years of a recovery that was roaring under Barack Obama,” Clinton said. “Nobody else running, including Donald Trump with all his hot rhetoric, has proposed anything practical to do about inflation. They just want you to blame somebody who didn’t have a lick to do with it.”
At the same time, Clinton said Harris’ economic plan will focus on making life easier for the majority of Americans.
“She wants to help the middle class and working people with lower incomes work their way into the middle class,” Clinton said.
He also said part of the reason he’s advocating for Harris is because he believes she has the humility to accept a loss better than Trump did in 2020.
“I know Kamala Harris,” Clinton said. “If you make her president and you don’t think she’s good, you can vote her out because she believes in democracy and the American way, and she’s the only candidate who believes that.”
With polls showing Trump and Harris nearly neck and neck in North Carolina, uncertainty remains among Harris voters in Wilmington. One told us it won’t be an easy win.
“North Carolina is definitely one of those battleground states,” event attendee Patricia Faulkner said. “I think she’s going to have to fight pretty hard for it.”
With early voting underway in the state, Clinton is encouraging voters to talk to their friends and convince them to get out to the polls.
“You got a few days left,” Clinton said. “You’ve got to get people to the polls, you’ve got to convince people it’s important to vote, you got to say there is a huge difference here. I think if you elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, you’d be proud of it for the rest of your lives. And your children and grandchildren will reap the benefits, and so will mine, so I want them to win.”
The chair of the New Hanover County Republican Party, Nevin Carr III, sent WECT the following statement about Clinton’s visit to Wilmington:
“It’s surprising to see Bill Clinton out representing Kamala and the Democrat Party. By today’s standards, they would have considered him a right-wing extremist during his presidency, especially with the tax cuts and deficit reduction measures. That’s probably why so many of his voters are no longer Democrats. Also, why would the ‘party of women’ be using a well-known womanizer as their spokesperson?”
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