Bill Clinton makes brief campaign stops in Washington, Uniontown
Former President Bill Clinton gives a short stump speech for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign at one of her campaign offices in Washington, Pennsylvania, on Friday afternoon after making several other local campaign pit stops.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Former president Bill Clinton greets supporters at an office for his wife’s campaign in Washington County on Friday afternoon.
Thalia Juarez
Former president Bill Clinton made a brief stop at a local restaurant in Uniontown Friday afternoon.
Thalia Juarez | Herald-Standard
Former president Bill Clinton signs a photo for owners of a local restaurant after in Uniontown after he stopped to shake hands with locals Friday afternoon.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Seven-year-old Christina Stroop sits under a table in a Hillary Clinton campaign office to draw a sign reading “I [heart] Hillary Clinton.” Stroop showed the sign to Bill Clinton when he made a stop in Washington County on Friday afternoon to stump for his wife’s campaign.
Former President Bill Clinton made a brief campaign stop in Uniontown and Washington after stopping in Pittsburgh on Friday, recognizing the weight southwestern Pennsylvania will carry when Hillary Clinton faces Republican Donald Trump in the November election.
In Washington, Clinton stopped at a campaign office for his wife, giving a brief speech to those gathered, shaking hands and signing autographsbefore moving on to other schedule stops.
In Uniontown, he didn’t make a speech, but spent a few minutes talking with James Davis, Fayette County Democratic Committee chairman, state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union, and Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower, and posed for photos with customers and staff at Meloni’s Reataurant, where the gathering took place.
“This is a nice town,” Clinton said to Davis and Mahoney before asking about the area’s economy.
Mahoney told him the Fayette County Housing Authority was renovating the nearby White Swan Apartments using tax credits.
Clinton said a bill authorizing the use of federal tax credits was the last major piece of legislation he signed into law before his second term ended. Use of the tax credits created 750,000 jobs, he said.
Mahoney and Davis urged Clinton to return with Hillary Clinton.
“Bring Hillary here,” Mahoney said.
“We need to see her. We love seeing you here. We need Hillary here,” Davis said.
“She needs to have boots on the ground here,” Mahoney said, after Clinton left. “I told him we’re one of the most depressed areas of the country and we need federal help.”
He said Clinton knows voters in Southwestern Pennsylvania are crucial to the campaign. Hillary Clinton received the highest percentage of votes from the area than from anywhere else in the country, Mahoney said.
Davis said he told Clinton that the county needs more support from the federal government for infrastructure development and for the coal and natural gas industries.
He said Clinton’s visit shows how important the region is to Hillary’s campaign.
“It’s enormously important,” Davis said. “It shows they care about this region. With Hillary Clinton in the White House, they’re not going to forget about us.”
He said he told Clinton that the area is well positioned for development.
“You can’t turn a corner unless you start somewhere,” Davis said.
No one seemed to know if a president has visited Uniontown before Clinton.
Samuel Davis, James Davis’s brother and law firm partner, said the late 1800s might have the last time.
“I don’t know of any president coming to a restaurant in Uniontown,” Mahoney said.
“I love it. This is really great,” said Meloni’s owner Joe Georgiana.
He said he had little time to prepare for the visit from Clinton, who arrived about 3 p.m.
“I was eating lunch. I just found out 20 minutes ago,” Georgiana said. “This is really nice.”
Before leaving, Clinton autographed some publicity photos and a place mat.
Trump’s senior adviser David Urban issued a statement on Clinton’s visit.
“Bill Clinton can try his best to dodge questions in Pittsburgh about the Clinton Foundation’s pay-for-play business model, but Pennsylvania voters will not be fooled again. Just last week we learned that Bill Clinton used taxpayer dollars to subsidize Hillary’s illegal use of a private email server while secretary of state — at the same time she ran a pay-to-play scheme that traded official access for donations to the Clinton Foundation,” he said.
“This is yet another reason disaffected Democrats and independents will vote for an outsider like Donald Trump in November — voters are tired of the Clinton scandals, and don’t want them moving back into the White House with their ever-growing caravan of ethical baggage,” Urban said.