AIKEN, South Carolina — Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that the Republican presidential debate looked like a “three-way boxing match.”
The former president said the debate showdown Thursday between front-runner Donald Trump and rivals Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz — the most combative yet between GOP contenders — was a reflection of the despair and outrage dominating the 2016 elections.
“I watched the Republican debate last night. I thought I was going to get to see a three-way boxing match there,” Mr. Clinton said at a get-out-the-vote rally for his wife, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary Saturday.
“So why is there so much angst and anxiety and anger in this election?” he asked the crowd of hundreds in a high school gym.
“I’ll tell you why — and that’s what the election is all about,” he said. “There is still too many Americans who look at that beautiful picture the president painted of our future and they can’t find themselves in it to save their own lives because most Americans still haven’t gotten a pay raise.”
Mr. Clinton praised the job President Obama has done in bringing the economy out of the Great Recession, including adding over 900,000 jobs and a uptick in manufacturing. He pledged that Mrs. Clinton would carry on the effort and do more to increase wages that have remained stagnant for most Americans.
“She believes we’ll never be the country we ought to be until we are all rising together again,” Mr. Clinton said.
Mrs. Clinton is cruising toward an easy victory in South Carolina, where she enjoys a wide lead over rival Sen. Bernie Sanders in most polls.
Mr. Sanders has shifted focused to the multi-state contests that begin with Super Tuesday next week, when scores of delegates will be up for grabs and he will need a strong showing to remain competitive.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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