Bill Clinton rips Trump: 'We are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate tripled'

Former President Bill Clinton explained in stark terms during night two of the Democratic National Convention how COVID-19 has devastated the United States.

Clinton reminded viewers that when President Trump was asked earlier this month about the surge in COVID-19 deaths, he said, "It is what it is," but "did it have to be this way?" Clinton asked. "No. COVID hit us much harder than it had to. We have just four percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's COVID cases. Our unemployment rate is more than twice as high as South Korea's, two-and-a-half times the United Kingdom's, more than three times Japan's. Donald Trump says we're leading the world — well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate tripled."

The Oval Office should "be a command center," Clinton said, but under Trump, it's a "storm center. It's only chaos. Just one thing never changes: His determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there." If people want a president who "defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he's your man. Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Former Vice President Joe Biden is the opposite, Clinton said, and will be a "go to work president, a down to earth guy, a get the job done guy." He is a "man with a mission to take responsibility," Clinton declared, and will "take responsibility, not shift the blame. Concentrate, not distract. Unite, not divide. Our choice is Joe Biden."