Former President Bill Clinton delivered a heartfelt and somber speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, expressing doubts about his ability to attend future conventions. Speaking with a noticeably raspy voice, the 78-year-old Clinton reflected on his long political journey and his advancing age, leaving viewers surprised by his appearance and the tremors in his hands.
“I want to say this from the bottom of my heart, I have no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to,” Clinton confessed during his 27-minute speech. “I started in ’76 and I’ve been at every one since—no, ’72. Lord, I’m getting old”, according to Yahoo.
Clinton, who served as the 42nd President of the United States, also joked about his age, saying, “Let’s cut to the chase, I am too old to gild the lily. Two days ago, I turned 78, the oldest man in my family for four generations.” In a moment of humor that drew applause, he added, “And the only personal vanity I want to assert is I’m still younger than Donald Trump,” referring to the former president who also turned 78 in June, reported by CBS News.
The speech, intended to support vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, quickly turned into a reflection on Clinton’s legacy and the passage of time. Viewers were quick to notice Clinton’s frail appearance, with one commentator on X (formerly Twitter) noting, “Clinton looks way beyond his years. He is speaking slowly, raspy shaky voice… he has aged in every way.” Another added, “Clinton has shaky hands as he speaks. He should join Joe and go to the nursing home.”
Despite his visible frailty, Clinton praised outgoing President Biden, acknowledging the challenges he faced during his presidency and commending him for his “courage, compassion, his class, his service, his sacrifice.” Clinton remarked, “He kept the faith and he’s infected a lot of the rest of us.”
Clinton also highlighted Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, describing them as “two leaders with all-American but still improbable life stories, it can only happen here.” However, his repeated mispronunciation of Harris’s first name did not go unnoticed.
In a moment of levity, Clinton, known for his love of fast food, joked about Harris’s past job at McDonald’s, saying, “I’ll be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s.”
Clinton didn’t shy away from criticizing Donald Trump, describing the former president as vain and “a good actor,” while cautioning Democrats to avoid complacency in the upcoming election. He alluded to the 2016 defeat of his wife, Hillary Clinton, saying, “We’ve seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn’t happen—when people got distracted by phony issues or overconfident.”
The night also featured brief speeches from Shapiro and Pelosi, with Shapiro urging viewers to “defend our democracy” by electing Harris, and Pelosi thanking Biden for “one of the most successful presidencies of modern times” in her four-minute address.