The Choice Is Clear: Hillary’s Vision for An America That Is Hopeful and Inclusive

On Thursday in North Carolina, Hillary Clinton continued to make her closing argument for the presidency, outlining her record of championing the interests of people of color throughout her career–in contrast with Donald Trump’s history of racial discrimination and divisive rhetoric. Throughout her professional life and candidacy, Hillary has pledged to take on social injustice, including systemic racism and sexism. If elected president, Hillary has vowed to pass end-to-end criminal justice reform and implement common sense gun reform, priorities of great concern to communities of color.

Trump, on the other hand, has throughout his life and this campaign repeatedly instilled division and hate–from championing the racist birther movement and courting conspiracy theorists, to calling for a deportation force for immigrant families and banning Muslims.

Long before Trump ran for president, he was sued by the Department of Justice for racial discrimination at his family’s housing developments in Brooklyn and Queens–in addition to discrimination at properties in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Norfolk, Virginia. Federal investigators were told that Trump employees would mark applications of prospective renters with “C” for “colored” and refused to rent to African Americans. At her event in Winterville today, Mae Brown Wiggins, a registered nurse who was turned away from an apartment Trump managed because of her skin color, introduced Hillary, describing the impact Trump’s actions had on her life.

Years later, in the 1980’s, Trump took out full-page ads in four newspapers calling for the death penalty for a group of black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of a crime, some as young as 14 years old. Just recently, Trump doubled down on his view that the five men, who were exonerated based on DNA evidence, are still guilty and should go to jail. Trump’s refusal to accept the evidence and admit he was wrong about the Central Park 5 is deeply disturbing, and continues to exacerbate deep and painful wounds borne by the men and their families.

The choice is clear. Americans deserve a president who believes Americans are stronger together, not one whose dark and divisive vision is fundamentally at odds with who we are as Americans.

As the presidential election draws to a close, here’s a recap of Trump’s pattern of discrimination and divisiveness:

A History of Housing Discrimination

• Trump was twice sued by the Department of Justice for discrimination in housing.
• Despite Trump’s claim that many companies were sued for discrimination when he was, the truth is that Fred and Donald Trump’s violation of the law was so egregious that the case made against them was “one of the strongest”
• At the first presidential debate, Trump admitted he was sued for housing discrimination saying, “we settled… it was very easy.”
• Trump’s real estate company had a disturbing practice of marking applications from black families with the letter “‘C’, for ‘Colored.”
• A Trump building manager had the rental application of a black woman and was instructed to “‘Take the application and put it in a drawer and leave it there,’ Mr. Leibowitz, now 88, recalled in an interview.”
• The N-word was used Trump offices and Donald was reportedly was in the room when it happened.
• Black families made up a tiny percentage of renters in Trump-owned buildings.

Trump vs. Central Park 5

• Trump paid for a racially provocative ad calling on New York lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty for five teenage Latino and African American men who were wrongfully accused of raping a woman.
• Trump refused to acknowledge the innocence of The Central Park 5 even after their 2014 exoneration.

The Birtherism Conspiracy Theory

• Trump led the birther movement in an attempt to delegitimize America’s first black president
• Trump continued pushing his birtherism theory to delegitimize President Barack Obama every Trump’s conspiracy theory: President Obama is a Muslim and rendered ineligible for the presidency because he was born in Kenya.
• When asked what he would say to people of color who were hurt by his remarks Trump repeatedly said, “I say nothing.”

Trump’s Hateful Rhetoric

• Trump has failed to appropriately disavow racists and white supremacists like David Duke supporting his campaign.
• Trump said African Americans have “nothing to lose” by voting for him because: “You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs.”
• Trump continues to ignore history and disparage black Americans, saying the African American community is in the worst shape “ever, ever, ever” and African Americans in cities are “living in hell” and living in “war zones.”
• Trump retweeted “racially loaded” and “wildly inaccurate” statistics claiming Blacks were responsible for 81 percent of White homicides.

Hateful Movements

• Trump’s campaign shared an anti-Semitic image on his twitter that first appeared on white supremacist websites.
• Trump has received an outpouring of support from hate movements like the alt-right.
• White Supremacists used Trump’s candidacy as a recruiting tool.
• White Supremacists and Klan members supported Trump, comparing his views to their views.
• David Duke said Trump has “Made it OK to talk about these incredible concerns of European Americans today, because I think European Americans know they are the only group that can’t defend their own essential interests and their point of view.
• “Virginia KKK Leader Endorses Trump: ‘What He Believes In, We Believe In.’”
• Trump on being supported by White Supremacists: “A lot of people like me.”

More Discrimination in Trump Organization

• Trump Plaza was fined $200,000 for shuffling Black and female dealers away from a high-rollers table to accommodate the preferences of patron and “reputed mob figure” Robert LiButti.
• Trump Marina was fined for requesting non-Black driver.
• When Trump came to his casino, Black people were allegedly ordered off the floor, according to a former employee in a report by The New Yorker.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

Hillary Clinton Interviewed on The Breakfast Club

Hillary Clinton was interviewed by the morning radio show “The Breakfast Club.” During the interview, Clinton and hosts DJ Envy, Angela Yee & Charlamagne Tha God discussed a number of topics including Clinton’s thoughts on being parodied on Saturday Night Live, her support for the Chicago Cubs, and the presidential debates. The group also discussed a number of Clinton’s campaign points including her plan to combat systemic racism. She said, “It’s something that we have to be honest about. We have to face up to systemic racism. We see it in jobs, we see it in education, we see it in housing. But let’s be really clear; it’s a big part of what we’re facing in the criminal justice system. African American men get arrested, charged, convicted, and incarcerated far more often and for far longer for doing the same thing that white men do.” A video of the full interview is below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: NBC News

HFA Responds to Trump’s Outreach to the African American Community

Following Donald Trump’s attempt to reach out to the African American community, Hillary for America’s Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement Marlon Marshall responded to his lack of African American community events with the following statement.

“Donald Trump’s latest gimmick to act as if he cares about the black community is downright shameful, insulting and cowardly.  After 14 months of neglecting us, Donald Trump is once again dodging substantive conversations and ducking questions about the issues that impact our community. Not surprisingly, Trump’s ignorance on issues like the economy, criminal justice reform, the meaning of quality health care or systemic racism, has forced him to resort to scripted conversations and staged engagements with our communities. The problem is, our community can see through this: outreach to African Americans cannot be scripted; leaders ought to be prepared to address the hard truths about race and justice in our country. And Trump’s discomfort on addressing these issues only reinforces that he’s unfit to be our president.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

Hillary Clinton Statement on The March on Washington Anniversary

Hillary Clinton released the following statement in honor of the 53rd anniversary of the March on Washington. The march was held August 28, 1963.

“Tomorrow, we mark the date on which hundreds of thousands of Americans marched on Washington on behalf of human rights.  Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. uttered words now etched forever in our nation’s history:

‘I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

His call to action sparked the momentum needed to pass the Voting Rights Act –  knocking down legal barriers that had stood for generations, and ensuring every American could exercise their constitutional right to vote.

In 2016, we’ve come a long way since the days of Jim Crow.  Yet too many Americans still face systemic racism and constant assaults on their franchise.  Something is profoundly wrong when decades after Dr. King addressed the nation, so many Americans still feel that their country values them less, simply because of the color of their skin.

That’s just one reason why the stakes in this election are unlike any we have faced before.  Those brave men and women who marched, and sat, and bled for civil rights in America must not have done so in vain.

As President, I’ll stand up to bluster and bigotry, and fight back against efforts to restrict access to the ballot.  Let’s make it easier for people to vote, not harder.  Let’s make sure every state has at least 20 days of in-person voting, and no one ever has to wait more than 30 minutes to cast their ballot.  And let’s automatically register every American to vote on their 18th birthday.

The power of American democracy comes from the fact that no one is left behind – no matter where they come from, what they look like, or who they love.  That’s what I mean when I say that we’re stronger together.

So today, let’s continue to be inspired by the self-evident truths that first united our nation, and live up to what a young minister dreamed and declared fifty-three years ago.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

House Benghazi Committee Releases Final Report

The House Select Committee on Benghazi concluded its multi-year investigation into the terrorist attack on the United States Diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. The attack resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith. After reviewing evidence and conducting countless interviews, the committee released its findings at the end of June.

There has been controversy surrounding the committee since its creation in 2014. Democrats have accused Republicans as using the attacks in Benghazi as a way to harm Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations. Its critics point to the endless investigations, many of which concluded before the committee was created in 2014. Because of this, the Republican majority and the Democratic minority of the committee have agreed on little. In fact, they even have separate websites covering the investigation. These divisions were made more apparent when Clinton testified for over 10 hours before the committee in October 2015.

On June 27, the minority members of the committee released their findings in a report led by Representative Elijah Cummings. In the report, the minority members focus on the way the committee has acted and the cost to tax payers for an investigation that ultimately yielded no new findings. They also complained that they were largely left out the process of writing the primary report that was released the next day. The report, which consists of 340 pages, is primarily a criticism of the handling of the investigation by the Republicans on the committee and their limited focus on Clinton.

The Republicans released their final report on June 28, a day after the Democrats. In 869 pages, the committee’s Republicans, led by Representative Trey Gowdy, harshly criticized the State Department, Defense Department, and CIA for failing to fully understand the situation that led to the attack in Benghazi. The report criticizes the delayed action by the Obama administration following the attacks. Overall, the committee failed to find any new evidence that changed the narrative of the attack nor could they prove that Clinton was in any way negligent. Instead, the report largely blames systemic issues for the poor response to the attack.

While the committee is responsible for discovering that Clinton used a private email server as Secretary of State, the findings of the committee largely echo that of an investigations conducted by the State Department in 2012 and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2013. During the Senate hearings in January 2013, Clinton accepted full responsibility for the State Department’s failures leading up to and following the attack. She also spoke about security funding that was cut by Congress arguing that those cuts have made United States diplomatic posts less secure around the world and she urged Congress to increase funding to ensure the safety of diplomats.

Since the release of the report early this week, Clinton has been asked for her thoughts. While she has not had much to say, she did offer a comment late this week saying, “I’ll leave it to others to characterize this report, but I think it’s pretty clear it’s time to move on.”

While many agree that it is time to move on, we want to ensure that the report, and every other report released on the Benghazi investigation are fully available to readers in the interest of full transparency. Therefore, we have gathered all the internal investigations and reports into the Benghazi attack into one place. Below, you will find a collection of websites for each the investigative committees as well as a collection of hearings and reports released by Congress and the State Department.

• House Select Committee on Benghazi Majority Website
• House Select Committee on Benghazi Minority Website
• House Republican Investigation of Benghazi Website
• U.S. State Department Accountability Review Board

Date	Investigator	Type
October 10, 2012	House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform	Hearing
November 15, 2012	House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Part 1)	Hearing
November 15, 2012	House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Part 2)	Hearing
December 2012	State Department Accountability Review Board	Report
December 20, 2012	Senate Committee on Foreign Relations	Hearing
January 23, 2013	House Committee on Foreign Affairs	Hearing
February 7, 2013	Senate Committee on Armed Services	Hearing
April 23, 2013	Progress Report by the House Republican Conference	Report
May 8, 2013	House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform	Hearing
September 16, 2013	House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform	Report
September 18, 2013	House Committee on Foreign Affairs	Hearing
September 19, 2013	House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform	Hearing
January 15, 2014	Senate Select Committee on Intelligence	Report
February 7, 2014	House Foreign Affairs Committee	Majority Report
September 17, 2014	House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi, Libya	Hearing
January 27, 2015	House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi, Libya	Hearing
October 22, 2015	House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi, Libya	Hearing
June 27, 2016	House Select Committee on Benghazi	Minority Report
June 28, 2016	House Select Committee on Benghazi	Majority Report

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post

Clinton Campaign Releases Details of Proposed Democratic Party Platform

On Saturday, Hillary For America Senior Advisor Maya Harris released a statement following a Democratic Platform Drafting Committee meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. The meeting was one of four held around the country allowing national and local Democrats to gather and discuss the party’s platform. While the official platform will not be adopted until the Democratic National Convention next month, several proposed platform points are discussed in Harris’ statement including a $15 minimum wage, updates to the country’s prison system, a commitment to clean energy and fighting climate change, and ensuring everyone pays their fair share of taxes. Videos from the drafting committee hearings are available on the Democratic National Convention’s YouTube Channel and, the full statement from Harris is below:

“We are proud that the draft 2016 Democratic Platform, which the drafting committee approved yesterday, represents the most ambitious and progressive platform our party has ever seen, and reflects the issues Hillary Clinton has championed throughout this campaign, from raising wages and creating more good-paying jobs to fixing our broken immigration system, reforming our criminal justice system, and protecting women’s reproductive health and rights. As our Chairman, Congressman Elijah Cummings, directed us at the outset, our platform does not merely reflect common ground—it seeks higher ground.

For the first time ever, our platform calls for ending mass incarceration, shutting down the school-to-prison pipeline, and taking on the challenges of systemic racism. This year’s platform contains the most ambitious jobs plan on record, including historic investments in infrastructure, pledges to increase American manufacturing and stop companies from shipping jobs overseas, and a robust, stand-alone plank on youth jobs. It contains ambitious, progressive principles on wages, stating that working people should earn at least $15 an hour, citing New York’s minimum wage law and calling for raising and indexing the federal minimum wage. It also calls for the elimination of the ‘tipped’ wage and for the right of workers to form or join a union.  And for the first time, the Democratic Party platform explicitly calls for repealing the Hyde Amendment, which restricts access to women’s reproductive rights, particularly low-income women and women of color.

Four years ago, the Democratic platform called for an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy. This platform moves far beyond that framework, with a robust commitment to combating climate change and ambitious goals, like generating 50 percent of our electricity from clean sources within a decade. This vision was further strengthened through an amendment offered by representatives of both campaigns to see America running entirely on clean energy by mid-century.

We are also pleased that there were many issues where committee members worked collaboratively to articulate a bold vision, including making sure Wall Street greed and recklessness never again threatens American families and businesses on Main Street; proposing a surtax on multi-millionaires to ensure the richest among us are paying their fair share to build an economy that works for everyone; and expanding Social Security benefits by raising more revenue above the $250,000 threshold.

Members also worked together on framing Democrats’ shared commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, with an eloquent unity amendment stating, ‘Immigration is not a problem to be solved, it is a defining aspect of the American character and history to be supported and defended against those who would exclude or eliminate legal immigration avenues and denigrate immigrants.’

And we are proud the draft 2016 Democratic platform sets forward progressive principles and high standards on trade, including calling for trade agreements to be more protective of workers’ rights, labor rights, the environment, and public health. The draft reviewed by committee members yesterday included a call to review past trade agreements and update them to reflect these principles. An amendment adopted yesterday further emphasized the fact that many Democrats oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership because ‘the agreement does not meet the standards set out in this platform.’ Hillary Clinton is one of those Democrats, and has been strongly and unequivocally on the record opposing TPP. Just this week, she said, ‘We will defend American jobs and American workers by saying ‘no’ to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.’

Make no mistake about it: The 2016 Democratic platform represents an ambitious, progressive agenda that all Democrats can and should be proud of.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Hillary Clinton Interviewed by Newsday

On Monday, Hillary Clinton sat down with the editorial board of the New York publication Newsday. During the interview, Clinton was asked about a variety of topics including jobs and the economy, FEMA, systemic racism, education, and the possibility of having the first female president. Clinton goes into detail of a number of her proposals and it is a great follow-up to her interview with the New York Daily News last week. A full transcript from the interview can be read HERE.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Newsday

Bill Clinton Campaigns for Hillary in MS, LA, and NE

Leading up to this weekend’s and next Tuesday’s primary races, Bill Clinton covered three states in two days campaigning for Hillary Clinton. On Thursday, Clinton spoke to supporters at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. During his remarks, he spoke about his wife’s experience and her plans to move the country forward. He said, “I think if the people of Mississippi stick with us, we’ll have some things we can really talk about.” Mississippi’s primary is on Tuesday.

Great welcome at @JacksonStateU today―lots of @HillaryClinton supporters! Vote on Tuesday! #ImWithHer pic.twitter.com/WCXnFiaW1A

— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) March 4, 2016

On Thursday evening, Clinton spoke to a crowd in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he focused on Hillary’s experience and her plans for future. He focused on a number of platform topics including her plans for the economy, jobs, heath care, and addressing systemic racism. He asked supporters to get out and support her in Saturday’s Democratic primary race against Bernie Sanders. A video from the event is below.

On Friday, Clinton remained in Louisiana for an event in New Orleans. Speaking at the Ashe Power House Theater, Clinton spoke about Hillary as a change maker and someone who wants to keep America great. While he never mentioned Republican Donald Trump by name, Clinton took some shots at the front-runner. He also spoke about a number of Hillary’s key platform points, including reducing the cost of higher education, repairing infrastructure, fight the heroin epidemic, and pushing for equal pay for women.

Clinton then traveled to Nebraska where he spoke at the The Waiting Room nightclub in Omaha. During the event, he asked voters to support Hillary in this Saturday’s caucus. He also focused on a number of platform points, including higher education and student debt. He said, “What does she want to do about that? Make college tuition free in every public university in the country, in every historically black university and college in the country and every university that serves first and second generation Americans and other universities that are small with relatively modest tuition and high rates of return.”

Clinton’s final event of the day was a Get Out the Caucus event in Lincoln. At the Lincoln Station Great Hall, Mayor Chris Beutler endorsed Hillary before introducing Clinton. During his speech, Clinton spoke about the wage barriers that exist for too many American families and that Hillary has plans to help expand the middle class. He also spoke about her plans to improve the infrastructure and expand broadband internet. Clinton covered Hillary’s plans to expand background checks before buying a gun saying that the majority of gun owners support background checks. At the end of the speech, he asked voters to support Hillary in Saturday’s caucus saying, “If you want us to rise together…you should vote for the best change maker…vote for Hillary tomorrow.”

In Tampa, Florida tonight, Hillary For America hosted a town hall event on the American military and what can be done help service members and their families during and after their service. Attending the event was retired Brigadier General John Douglass, retired Rear Admiral Michael Smith (ret), Major General Rick Olson, and Jon Murray, National Director of Veterans and Military Families Outreach at Hillary for America.

Tomorrow, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Kansas go to the polls. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: 1011, WAPT, KATC, NOLA, KALB, WOWT

Bill, Chelsea Campaign for Hillary before Super Tuesday

On Sunday, Bill and Chelsea Clinton were on the campaign trail in support of Hillary Clinton. Bill spent the day in Florida where he attended fundraisers in Miami and Boca Raton. In Miami Gardens, he spoke at a Get Out the Vote event where he covered Hillary’s call for increased gun control, improving health care, and resolving systemic racism. He asked voters to support Hillary in the upcoming March 15th primary. A video from his speech will be added when/if available.

Chelsea was in Minnesota before Tuesday’s caucuses, and she attended Get Out the Caucus events in Minnetonka and South St. Paul. She also spoke at a Women for Hillary event in Rochester. At each of the events, she spoke about her mother’s experience and platform, focusing particularly on her work with children and women’s rights. Chelsea said, “She set the expectations that every embassy representing our country around the world would know what was happening to women and girls in terms of rights, opportunities, safety, health, participation. And she spent three years building a bipartisan coalition to create the children’s health insurance program, which covers more than eight million low-income kids, including tens of thousands here in Minnesota.” Videos from today’s events will be posted when/if available.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: CBS Miami, CBS Minnesota

Hillary Clinton Campaigns in South Carolina

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton attended events across South Carolina leading up to Saturday’s primary. Clinton spoke at a Columbia luncheon for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the nation’s first African-American sorority. She spoke to the group of women about the disparity between white people and people of color, and how it especially affects women. She said, “Something is wrong when black women are more than three times more likely to die in this country in this century from complications due to childbirth. Imagine if a white baby here in South Carolina were twice as likely to die as an African-American baby. Imagine the outcry and the resources that would flood in.” Clinton spoke about the continued fight for equal rights and the systemic racism that continues in parts of the country. A video from the event will be posted when/if available.

Tonight, Clinton attended a town hall on the campus of Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina. During the event, Clinton spoke about race, poverty, and inequality. She also spoke out against the effort in a number of southern state to make it more difficult to vote. The measures being introduced disproportionately affect people of color, and she urged those in attendance to follow the lead of Representative John Lewis and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and fight against it. She also blasted Senate Republicans for vowing to not confirm a Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Barack Obama. She said, “To say don’t even send us a nominee is at variance to the Constitution and deeply disrespectful to the office of the president of the United States.” A video from the event will be added when/if available.

Clinton also attended a fundraiser at the Charleston home of Lisa and Joe Rice. Tomorrow, Clinton will remain in South Carolina where is scheduled to attend four events. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The Washington Post, Charleston Post and Courier,  The Sumter Item