Bill Clinton joked that he didn’t have many conventions left during his speech at the DNC Wednesday night, as many on social media said his voice and hands were shaky the entire time.
Clinton, 78, channeled some of the relief inside the Democratic National Convention hall Wednesday when he said a ‘load’s off our shoulders’ while praising Kamala Harris and saluted President Joe Biden for dropping out.
However, many on social media noted with one of his remarks that Father Time may have finally caught up on the man from Hope, Arkansas.
‘I have no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to,’ he said. ‘I started in ’76 and I’ve been to every one since, no, ’72! Lord, I’m getting old.’
Those on the internet seemed to agree, even those who thought the 42nd president spoke well on behalf of Kamala Harris and his party.
Bill Clinton joked that he didn’t have many conventions left during his speech at the DNC Wednesday night, as many on social media said his voice and hands were shaky the entire time
‘What tomb did they drag Clinton out of? He barely has a voice for gods sake,’ wrote one user on X.
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Another added: ‘Is Bill Clinton’s voice going to last through the speech? He could turn this convention into a super spreader.’
‘As a 90s kid, it’s admittedly a bit jarring to see Bill Clinton in old age now, with his voice weakened,’ wrote another.
Leslie Hailes wrote: ‘There’s not enough Throat Coat in the US that would help Bill Clinton’s voice.’
Even those who thought he brought the house down couldn’t help but notice Clinton’s age during the largely ad libbed speech.
Justin Sherin said: ‘Bill Clinton is hoarse and speaks slowly and his hands shake but as a speaker he’s still unmatched. If you look close you can see when he goes to the script and when he rewrites it on the fly. Talks like he’s in your living room. The master.’
Clinton observed that he just turned 78 years old, which makes him the oldest in his family of four.
‘And the only personal vanity I want to assert is I’m still younger than Donald Trump,’ Clinton said.
Clinton is just under two months younger than Trump, who turned 78 in June.
The quip underscored how Democrats can now use the age issue to their advantage, after jettisoning the 81-year-old president who dominated the primaries.
‘I have no idea how many more of these ill be able to come to,’ he said. ‘I started in ’76 and I’ve been to every one since, no, ’72! Lord, I’m getting old’
Like Barack Obama, the Clintons had put out a statement backing President Biden after his debate disaster last month. But some of their ex-aides joined former Obama officials in calling for Biden’s replacement.
Clinton made the comment about the load being lifted in a 28-minute speech where he compared Biden to George Washington for yielding to calls to end his campaign while facing a potential blowout in battleground states against Donald Trump.
The former president brought up Barack Obama once calling him ‘explainer in chief’ after his 2012 convention speech won plaudits for persuasion. He also bored convention-goers with his 1988 oration.
This time, he laced his pitch for Kamala Harris with yarns about the candidate himself. (He mispronounced her name once during his remarks).
Clinton pointed back to his past as a voracious fast food consumer to make the case for Kamala Harris at the Democratic convention.
Harris, as her campaign has been reminding voters, spent part of her youth working at McDonald’s, the kind of bootstrap gig that lets her present a contrast with billionaire Donald Trump, the scion of a real estate empire.
Many delegates and even floor speakers were young when Clinton’s own high cholesterol habits were a media sensation. He munched his way through his surprise 1992 campaign victory, occasionally trying to jog off the calories.
That was long before his quadruple bypass surgery and vegan diet that has him slimmed down.
Clinton praised Harris and threw a few barbs at Trump – although they were often gentler ones than the ridicule rolled out by Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.