Former President Bill Clinton declared that everyone was a nationalist in the world, but for a country to survive it had to welcome immigrants.
Clinton made his remarks during a campaign event for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy in New Jersey.
“Everybody is a nationalist … the question is are you an inclusive nationalist or a tribal nationalist?” he said.
He said that America continued to sustain their country because they were able to absorb large groups of immigrants from every culture.
“Look, does every country need borders, laws and rules? Yes,” he stated. “Do we need young immigrants who are willing to work hard and contribute to our future? You bet.”
Clinton explained that the United States was facing the same problem as wealthy nations in history, citing a poor birth replacement rate.
“Like every other wealthy country in the world, the more you give women access to an education and the workforce, the lower the birthrate is, the smaller families are,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are pro-choice or pro-life … in every society on earth this happens.”
Immigration, he explained, was essential to the continued prosperity of the country.
“You need them!” he cried, referring to immigrants. “We need to do this together.”
He criticized political attacks that relied on hate and anger to drive supporters to the polls.
Republicans he said were trying to get supporters “foaming at the mouth until they need a rabies shot” and “stark raving crazy” to get them to vote.
“It’s like food that leaves you hungry 30 minutes after you eat it,” he said.
Clinton also warned that Russia was a real threat to the United States, after tearing down media and sources of information to distort democracy in the United States.
“What they’re really trying to do is be able to dilute the sources of information so much that there will be no difference between fact and fiction, truth and lie,” he said. “And then all the crowd of authoritarians will come along and say … it’s impossible to have a genuine democracy.”
Murphy celebrated Clinton’s appearance on the campaign trail, praising the former president for his character.
“My late mother used to say you’re known by the company that you keep, how about the company I’m keeping right here ladies and gentlemen?” he hollered, referring to Clinton.
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