Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her Super Tuesday victory speech to discuss the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., a week before Michigan’s Democratic primary election.
It was a big night for Clinton, quickly winning seven states as of 9:15 p.m. during the biggest primary day of the cycle. At the end of her speech in Miami, carried live on most cable news networks, she brought up the water crisis in Flint.
In a speech positioning her for the March 8 primary in Michigan and toward the general election, Clinton recounted her contention that the water crisis in Flint was caused by a Republican governor trying to save money. But, she added there’s another story in the city.
“It’s a story of a community that’s been knocked down but refused to be knocked out,” she said. “It is hundreds of union plumbers coming from across the country to help install new water fixtures. It is students raising funds for hundreds of deliveries of bottled water.”
Flint has become a major campaign issue for Clinton, who has sent top campaign aides to the city to find out how the campaign could help. She mentioned the crisis during her closing remarks in a Democratic presidential primary debate that brought the crisis to an elevated level in national news in January.
Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, have visited the city, and the campaign has released two campaign ads focusing on her work in the city.
She told the Miami crowd about a trip she made to a church in Flint where the congregation joined hands and sang, “We’ve come too far to stop now.” She relayed that message to her supporters and said her campaign was channeling Flint’s story in the election.
“They’re not about to quit now,” she said. “We know there are many Flints out there … but we’ve come too far in this country to stop now.”
