Duckworth on Clinton Speaking at DNC: ‘The Democratic Party Is a Big Tent’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) reacted to criticism of former President Bill Clinton speaking at the Democratic National Convention by stating that she’ll let Clinton defend himself, and that the Democratic Party “is a big tent, and all sorts of folks fit underneath it.”

Host Bret Baier [relevant exchange begins around 4:10] read from a Slate article that argued that Clinton shouldn’t speak at the DNC, in part because “His past actions, particularly his sexual misconduct, look worse in retrospect, not better” and then asked Duckworth what she thought.

Duckworth responded, “Well, I’ll let Bill Clinton defend himself, and I’ll let Bill Clinton make his remarks tonight. What I can tell you, Bret, is that the Democratic Party is a big tent that everybody is welcome to come under who truly loves America and wants to work on things like fighting this pandemic, like putting money into our public schools so our kids can get back to school, like investing in small businesses, like investing in parts of the country that need help. … The Democratic Party is a big tent, and all sorts of folks fit underneath it. And I welcome anyone who truly wants to come and work to solve the problems we have in this country.”

Baier then asked if “in the wake of the MeToo movement, does it change the perspective when it comes to Bill Clinton?”

Duckworth answered, “Listen, as I said, I’ll let Bill Clinton defend himself and I’ll let him make his remarks tonight, and I’ll be listening. But I will tell you that we have a lot of work to do in this country.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett