CHICAGO — Former President Bill Clinton rewrote his Democratic convention speech this week after deciding it had to be “more fun” to match attendees’ enthusiasm for new presidential nominee Kamala Harris, according to a report.
Clinton, 78, reflected on his own mortality and sparked health concerns Wednesday night as his hands trembled and he confided in viewers that he may be unable to attend future conventions — but the original draft reportedly was even grimmer.
The ex-president decided after watching speeches Monday night that he had to bring more levity to his speech, CNN reported, and he did indeed include some well-received laugh lines along with the more somber content.
A Clinton aide told the outlet that the former president decided he needed to recast his script “with a more fun, youthful, joyful approach.”
“He’s going to have fun. I can’t stress this enough,” the aide said before Clinton’s address.
Clinton ended up joking about his love of eating McDonald’s while mentioning how Vice President Harris, 59, once worked at the fast food chain.
“I’ll be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s,” Clinton said.
He also roasted former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee — describing him as vain and obsessed about crowd sizes.
“He’s like one of those tenors opening up before he walks out on stage like I did, trying to get his lungs open by singing, ‘me, me, me, me,’” Clinton said.
