Hillary Clilnton speaking at Mountain View College (Josh Rudner/Dallas Voice)
About 1,500 people packed into the gym at Mountain View College in Oak Cliff to hear presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speak. This was her first public event in Dallas in this election campaign.
Clinton asked the crowd to become part of the campaign as she listed what her campaign embraces.
“That includes defending LGBT rights,” Clinton told a cheering crowd. “The right of people to be safe from gun violence.”
The 30 minute speech began late, because Clinton’s plane was delayed due to heavy rain. She began her day in Dallas with a fundraiser at the home of Regina Montoya and Paul Coggins.
State Sen. Royce West introduced Clinton noting her first public appearance in Dallas was held south of the Trinity River. Oak Cliff is historically Democratic.
In her speech, Clinton touched on a number of themes. She used the terrorist attacks in Paris to highlight a difference between herself and Republicans who are calling for closing our borders to Syrian refugees who are also victims of ISIS. She called for compassion for refugees while being vigilant in screening immigrants.
She touched on healthcare, noting Texas remains the state with the highest rate of uninsured people and the second highest health insurance rates. She said Gov. Greg Abbott should be doing everything possible to increase the number of people with health insurance, criticizing his refusal to expand Medicaid and his call to turn healthcare decisions over to the state.
“I’d be a little worried about turning healthcare over to Greg Abbott,” Clinton said.
Clinton said no one who works full time should live in poverty, calling for a higher minimum wage. She also proposed profit sharing when corporations are profitable, saying executives and shareholders aren’t the only ones who should be profiting.