Former President Bill Clinton made his first appearance in the midterm campaign on Oct. 20, stumping for Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly while assailing President Donald Trump for “treating allies like dirt” and embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Clinton’s appearance comes as Florida’s gubernatorial race between Jolly and Republican Rep. Byron Donalds has shown signs of being competitive, with recent polls indicating a close contest. Clinton, 80, spoke for about 33 minutes, showing the same telltale charm and humor that made him a two-term president.
But before getting into the Florida political race, Clinton lambasted Trump not just on his foreign policy, but on White House renovations, the president’s use of ICE, and failing to recognize families financially struggling.
“I’m tired of the way we treat our allies like dirt, and just last week President Trump has finally done what he threatened to do when he ran the first time, which is to abandon Ukraine and embrace Vladimir Putin all over again,” Clinton said at the Koinonia Worship Center.
Trump bypassed Congress to cut a Russian diesel deal, held up Patriot missile transfers to Ukraine and publicly blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war while calling for his replacement.
Trump has defended Russia’s actions as “fine” and floated a potential three-way summit with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping without Ukrainian representation. On Oct. 19, Ukraine released a photo showing a one-year-old baby killed in his stroller by a Russian strike while her mother walked her in a park in Nova Vodolaha.
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As for the renovations, he said Congress needed to protest Trump turning the Rose Garden “into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”
Clinton predicted that Trump’s immigration policy would backfire come Nov. 3.
“You live in Florida, you got to have some real fans to think you’re going to make votes as a Republican by kicking Cubans out,” he said.
The former president lauded not only his two terms in office but also the Democrats who followed him to the White House, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, saying they all brought inflation and unemployment down.
Turning to the gubernatorial race, he mentioned Donalds eliminating the most prominent mentions of Trump from his website.
“He even took down a section that listed the Trump agenda as a priority of his. Go figure,” Clinton said.
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As for Jolly, Clinton praised the one-time Republican congressman for choosing former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham as his running mate, calling it “brilliant.” He said Jolly would work to lower property-insurance costs and support and expand Medicaid so people could get health coverage.
Clinton and Jolly told the crowd they would end the divisive politics that have marked Florida in recent years and focus on economic policies to benefit residents. Borrowing a line from one of the introductory speakers, Clinton said, “It’s not about woke, it’s about broke.”
The Jolly campaign announced that Clinton headlined a fundraiser at a private residence that raised $3 million. Earlier in the day, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) announced it would spend $1 million on behalf of Jolly.
“We’ve been making the same case for 18 months that Florida was in play,” Jolly told reporters after the event.
Democratic activist Dr. Fergie Reid Jr., whose Virginia-based 90-for-90 recruited Florida candidates for this cycle, said Clinton’s appearance “is an absolute indicator that the ground has shifted in Florida.”
“You don’t put these people in play unless there’s a really good reason to do so,” he said. “Their value is immeasurable. Bill Clinton could go to Michigan. He could go to Kansas. He could go to Texas.”
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How big is the fundraising gap between Byron Donalds and David Jolly?
Still, Jolly noted Donalds has outraised him by at least $120 million.
“He’s going around the state raising a bunch of money that he’s not going to spend. We’re moving into that space of this campaign where we need to ask, ‘Why are you raising this money?'” said Jolly, opening a new line of attack on his opponent.
“Are you going to use it for this campaign or are you actually raising it for some other purpose?” he added.
Asked why he thought Clinton chose his first midterm speech for him, Jolly said the former president sees Florida turning more purple like other red states.
“Florida can lead a new coalition in American politics, capable of making a competitive White House in 2028, reshaping Congress, but also reimagining our politics,” he said.
John Pacenti is the Government Impact Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Bill Clinton hits Florida trail, says Trump treats ‘allies like dirt’
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