Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a celebratory address a day after many outlets deemed her the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee — a first for a woman in either major party.
And while she championed the history of women's rights that preceded her candidacy, Clinton also lashed out likely GOP opponent Donald Trump.
"The stakes in this election are high, and the choice is clear: Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander-in-chief," she said Tuesday. "And he's not just trying to build a wall between America and Mexico, he's trying to wall off Americans from each other."
This domestic separation, she said, is inherent in Trump's message of taking the country back to a previous "great" period.
"When he says 'let's make America great again,' that's code for 'let's take America backwards' — back to a time when opportunity and dignity were reserved for some, not all," she said. "We, however, we want to write the next chapter in American greatness with a 21st Century prosperity that lifts everyone who has been left out and left behind, including those who may not vote for us, but deserve their chance to make a new beginning."
In contrast, Clinton said her campaign is about bringing people together — something her campaign surely hopes will happen among Democratic voters after a hard-fought primary contest against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
"We believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls," Clinton said.