LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Voters dejected by the results of the presidential election must find a way to give back and stay involved, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Clinton presidential library.
The former president urged the audience in a packed room to stay engaged and find ways to communicate with those they disagree with despite a divided political time. The two spoke about a month after former President Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
“We’re just passing through, and we all just need to calm down and do something that builds people up instead of tearing people down,” Bill Clinton said.
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Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who was defeated by Trump in the 2016 election, said she understands that the coming years will be challenging for voters who disagree with the decisions being made.
“In addition to staying engaged and aware, it’s important to find something that makes you feel good about the day, because if you’re in a constant state of excitement about our political situation, it will really shorten your life,” she says. said.
The Clintons spoke during a panel discussion with journalist Laura Ling, who helped free the former president in 2009 when she was being held in North Korea with another journalist. The event was held as part of a weekend of activities celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. The library is preparing for an update of its exhibits and an expansion that will include Hillary Clinton’s personal archives.
Hillary Clinton said part of the goal is to modernize and expand the facility so it becomes a more open, inviting place for people to gather and make connections.
When asked about the advice he would give to people disappointed by the election results, Bill Clinton said people should continue working to bring people together and improve the lives of others.
“If that’s the way you keep score, then you should try to run up the score,” he said. “I don’t have to mourn the fact that someone else wins another game because he or she scores in a different way.”
“And besides, figuring out what we can do to win again,” Hillary Clinton added to cheers.
The program included a panel discussion with cast members from the hit NBC show “The West Wing” and former Clinton White House staffers.
The weekend amounted to a reunion of former Clinton White House aides, supporters and close friends, including former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and adviser James Carville.
McAuliffe said he and Carville ate Friday at Doe’s Eat Place, a downtown restaurant popular with Clinton aides and reporters during Clinton’s White House run in 1992. He said he saw the library and its planned expansion as important to considered the future.
“This is not just about the past, but more importantly about the future,” McAuliffe said. “We just had a very tough election and people are all saying we need to go back to the Clinton model.”
