Hillary Clinton took to two pulpits in Memphis on Sunday to preach a message of inclusion and a rejection of divisiveness, in the wake of her dominant win over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in South Carolina on Saturday
Clinton made her oft used called for “love and kindness” at the two church stops, but did so with a more political bent by subtly knocking Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, in front of the primarily black audiences.
“America has never stopped being great, our task is to make America whole,” Clinton said at the Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith outside Memphis, where she was welcomed with roaring applause and a choir’s song.
The line is a not-so-subtle knock against Trump and his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Advisers to Clinton increasingly believe Trump is more likely than not to be the Republican nominee and Clinton is responding as such.
Later, at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, Clinton said that while the United States have “a lot of work to be done,” she remains “confident” in the future.
“I am very confident, not just hopeful, I am confident that if we start working together again, if we remembered we are the United States of America, if we reject the demagoguery, the prejudice, the paranoia, the mean spiritedness we hear in our public political discourse … America’s best days can still be ahead of us,” Clinton added.
Clinton’s aides and top supporters have been amused by the food fight playing out on the Republican side of the aisle, where accusations of lying and misdeeds are common. And they see Clinton as a candidate who can rise above that fray, at times, to tout a more inclusive message.
“It will take all of us working together to knock down these barriers to stand for the basic proposition that yes we are all created equal,” Clinton said at the first service.
Clinton’s visits come as part of a three day, five-state swing ahead of Super Tuesday, where 11 states and more than 800 delegates are up for grabs on the Democratic side.
Looking ahead to Tuesday, Clinton’s aides know they are not going to knock Sanders out on March 1, but they hope by the end of the night on Tuesday — where 865 delegates are at stake — their campaign will have at least a 100 earned delegate lead over the Vermont senator.
Clinton was successful in South Carolina, in part, because she embraced Obama, someone who remains popular among Democrat’s African-American base.
On Sunday, Clinton embraced Obama again.
“I want to build on that,” Clinton said of Obamacare. “I know how hard that was to do. And we have improvements to make, but we are on the right path.”
