Hillary Clinton delivered a stark warning on her historic night in Philadelphia Thursday: Donald Trump is dangerous and irresponsible — and a vote for him imperils everything Americans stand for.

As Clinton became the first female nominee of a major party, she drew biting contrasts in her acceptance speech between her vision for the country and Trump’s. The former secretary of State painted a picture of a vibrant, strong and diverse America that requires “steady leadership”— at odds with, in her view, the images of stagnation and division that a feckless Trump conjures up.


"In the end, it comes down to what Donald Trump doesn't get: that America is great – because America is good," she said. "So enough with the bigotry and bombast. Donald Trump's not offering real change."

Trump, Clinton suggested, was corrupting longstanding Republican — and American — values.

"He wants to divide us — from the rest of the world, and from each other," she said. "He's betting that the perils of today's world will blind us to its unlimited promise. He's taken the Republican Party a long way, from 'Morning in America' to 'Midnight in America.' He wants us to fear the future and fear each other."

That approach, she continued, is out of sync with America's tradition of persevering through challenging times.





"We are clear-eyed about what our country is up against. But we are not afraid,” she said, an implicit jab at what many have described as Trump’s embrace of the “politics of fear.” “We will rise to the challenge, just as we always have.”

In recent elections, it was the Republican Party that vocally embraced American exceptionalism and blasted Democrats — in particular, President Barack Obama — for "apologizing" for America. But on Thursday, Clinton leaned into that notion.

"We have the most dynamic and diverse people in the world," she said. "We have the most powerful military."

Clinton argued that she was uniquely prepared to lead America in taking on the country's biggest challenges, particularly in the national security realm. She noted her experience and knowledge gleaned from her time as secretary of State and while serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and went on to question whether Trump has the judgment and temperament — let alone familiarity with the issues — to lead the U.S. military.

"Ask yourself: Does Donald Trump have the temperament to be Commander-in-Chief? Donald Trump can't even handle the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign," she said. "He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. When he's gotten a tough question from a reporter. When he's challenged in a debate. When he sees a protester at a rally.

"Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis," she continued. "A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons."

Obama has at times been criticized for not appearing publicly sensitive enough to people's fears about terrorism. Clinton also sought to connect on that issue, while making clear that Trump is not the candidate to lead in an age of terrorism.

"The choice we face is just as stark when it comes to our national security,” she said. “Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face. From Baghdad and Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, to San Bernardino and Orlando, we're dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated. No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance — looking for steady leadership.”

She hammered Trump for his remark at the Republican National Convention last week that "I alone can fix" a broken political system, pouncing on that remark to be more broadly critical of Trump's inward-looking foreign policy as well as what she characterized as his general self-centered approach to governance.

"Don't let anyone tell you that our country is weak," she said. "We're not. Don't let anyone tell you we don't have what it takes. We do. And most of all, don't believe anyone who says: 'I alone can fix it.'”

And in swipe after swipe at Trump, Clinton tore into his business record and his hard-line positions on illegal immigration and Muslim migration.

Under her leadership, she said, "we will not build a wall," but will instead find a path to citizenship "for millions of immigrants who are already contributing to our economy." And "we will not ban a religion," she continued, but instead "will work with all Americans and our allies to fight terrorism" — a promise that came after the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in action rebuked Trump onstage.

Earlier in the week, the audience — which came to Philadelphia still sharply divided between progressives who embraced former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, and Clinton’s supporters — was restive, and protests dominated Monday evening and parts of Tuesday. But as the week wore on, the protesters appeared to run out of steam, and Clinton nodded to them early on in the speech, making an appeal for party unity for the sake of the progressive agenda they highlighted.

"Bernie, your campaign inspired millions of Americans, particularly the young people who threw their hearts and souls into our primary," she said. "You've put economic and social justice issues front and center, where they belong. And to all of your supporters here and around the country: I want you to know, I've heard you. Your cause is our cause."

She also urged voters from across the political spectrum to take Trump seriously.

“For the past year, many people made the mistake of laughing off Donald Trump's comments — excusing him as an entertainer just putting on a show,” he said. “They think he couldn't possibly mean all the horrible things he says – like when he called women 'pigs.' Or said that an American judge couldn't be fair because of his Mexican heritage. Or when he mocks and mimics a reporter with a disability.

“Or insults prisoners of war like John McCain, a true hero and patriot who deserves our respect,” she added, nodding to the 2008 GOP nominee, one of several times throughout the speech that she extended an olive branch to Republicans.

“At first, I admit, I couldn't believe he meant it either,” she said. “It was just too hard to fathom – that someone who wants to lead our nation could say those things. Could be like that. But here's the sad truth: There is no other Donald Trump. This is it.”

Clinton was working on her speech as late as Thursday afternoon, as aides debated how to handle Trump's apparent urging of Russia to hack Clinton's emails, comments that Trump later said were meant to be sarcastic.

She settled on a passing reference as part of a longer critique of Trump's foreign policy, in which she stressed the stakes of the election: "We entrust our commander-in-chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces. Decisions about war and peace. Life and death."

"I'm proud to stand by our allies in NATO against any threat they face, including from Russia," she said.

"Hillary Clinton’s speech was an insulting collection of clichés and recycled rhetoric," Trump's campaign shot back in a statement. "She spent the evening talking down to the American people she’s looked down on her whole life."

Coming into the speech, Clinton’s biggest challenges were more personal than political. She needed to find a way to connect with the audience, Democratic operatives said — and more importantly, she needed to drive home a message that she is trustworthy, something that polls show many Americans doubt.

She was clearly aware of that need to connect.

"The truth is, through all these years of public service, the 'service' part has always come easier to me than the 'public' part," she said. "I get it that some people just don't know what to make of me."

She went on to relate her personal story: granddaughter of a lace mill worker from Scranton, and daughter of hardworking parents who had each endured their own hardships to make a better life for their children.

But Clinton is more comfortable wading into policy details than she is delivering the memorable, soaring rhetoric of her husband, Bill Clinton, and former boss, President Barack Obama. And she defended that approach.

"It's true," she said. "I sweat the details of policy – whether we're talking about the exact level of lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, the number of mental health facilities in Iowa, or the cost of your prescription drugs. Because it's not just a detail if it's your kid, if it's your family. It's a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president."

Clinton also acknowledged, fairly briefly, the historic nature of her nomination.

"Today we've reached a milestone in our nation's march towed a more perfect union: the first time a major party has nominated a woman for president," she said, going on to add, "when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone."