For the first time this campaign season, Hillary Clinton appeared with Joe Biden during a virtual event aimed at highlighting women’s issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the two discussed the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on women, the former secretary of state didn’t miss an opportunity to drag her 2016 presidential opponent.
“Think about what a difference it would make if we had a real president, not just one who played one on TV,” Clinton said. “Just think of what a difference it would make right now if we had a president who not only listened to the science, put fact over fiction, but brought us together.”
Though Clinton has been quite outspoken about former opponents, particularly Trump, on social media, she had been mum about her support of any one particular candidate during the primaries. On Tuesday she signaled a change.
Clinton added her name to many others who have publicly endorsed the former vice-president for the office of the U.S. presidency. In an e-mail to supporters following the nearly 50-minute conversation between the two Obama administration alums, she said, “More than ever, these tumultuous times reveal how desperately we need level-headed, solutions-oriented leadership. We need someone who listens to scientists, who acts with kindness and compassion, and who recognizes that America can and must lead the world in responding to this pandemic.”
The two agreed that under a new administration there would be room to advance the discussion on paid sick leave, higher minimum wage, and federal program funding. Clinton asserted, “Out of this terrible tragedy of the pandemic and the loss of life and loss of income and everything else that we’re suffering through, this is a moment of reckoning.”