Bill Clinton provided a brief warm-up act to Hillary Clinton on Sunday evening: The former president schmoozed with donors at an East Hampton fundraiser, where about 175 guests attended, each paying from $500 to $2,700.

But the former president was not there to upstage his wife: Once Hillary Clinton finished with the photo line, her husband sat on stage and listened, with no speaking role during the program.


Bill Clinton chatted up guests at the Long Island home of Hilary Leff while Hillary Clinton posed for pictures and mingled with the fundraiser host committee. The former president appeared to have followed the dress code, which dictated “Hamptons casual” attire - he wore a white sweater slung over his shoulders and a blue checkered shirt.

“The reason [Republicans] are trying to restrict voting rights is they want the presidential electorate to look more like the midterm electorate,” Bill Clinton told a group of supporters mingling at the outdoor fundraiser, discussing the Republican wave that dominated the 2014 midterm elections.

But after Hillary Clinton came out and delivered a lengthy speech, another source said, “It was the Hillary show.” Bill Clinton's presence was described by multiple attendees as "very low-key."

As Bill Clinton looked on, Hillary Clinton was introduced by her longtime friend and supporter Susie Tompkins Buell, co-founder of Esprit.

Bill Clinton has been absent from the campaign trail so far this election, and campaign officials have been vague about what public role he might play on the campaign in the future, and when that might be. Behind the scenes, he has been involved in some of the early campaign planning, and he recently made his first visit to the campaign headquarters in Brooklyn. POLITICO's Glenn Thrush reported last week that Bill Clinton has been "very agitated" by the possibility of a Joe Biden run.

On Sunday, Bill Clinton accompanied his wife to two of the three fundraisers she attended (he also attended a fundraiser in Water Mill with his family last weekend). The former secretary of state joked that when they get home from events he tells her what she did right and what she did wrong, "and I take notes!"

At the fundraiser Sunday evening, Hillary Clinton reiterated her strong endorsement of President Barack Obama's Iran deal, and said she plans to deliver a big speech on Iran on Sept. 9. That is the same day that Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz plan to hold a protest against the Iran deal at the Capitol.

Clinton also made it clear whom she would like to run against in a general election, telling supporters: “Donald Trump [said] he'd be better for women's health than I would. I really hope I get to debate him on that. And everything else."

