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This is what a president sounds like.
In the chamber where Abraham Lincoln denounced slavery and declared “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” Hillary Clinton called on Wednesday for racial tolerance in the wake of a series of shootings of black men by white police officers and the killing of five officers in Dallas last week.
In a chamber of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., where Lincoln gave his June 16, 1858, address, Mrs. Clinton expanded on her remarks calling on white people to express more empathy with blacks who fear for their lives in encounters with the police.
And she reiterated her call for understanding about the difficult job police officers do, “kissing their kids and spouses goodbye every day and heading off to a dangerous job,” as she said in a speech at an African Methodist Episcopal Church convention in Philadelphia last week.
In that address, the basis for what she expanded on in her speech on Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton called for “ending the systemic racism that plagues our country — and rebuilding our communities where the police and citizens all see themselves as being on the same side.”
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton returned to Illinois' capital Wednesday, where she sought to tap into its deep connection to Abraham Lincoln, accusing Donald Trump of transforming the "Party of Lincoln" into "the Party of Trump."
Clinton's somber remarks to 150 invited guests came at the Old State Capitol, a historic landmark where Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech in 1858 and President Barack Obama launched his bid for the White House in 2007.
The former secretary of state quoted from Lincoln's speech and called for strength to have the tough conversations needed to bring about healing following last week's fatal shootings of black men by police in Minnesota and Louisiana, and the subsequent attack on police by a black Army veteran in Dallas that killed five officers and wounded several more.
"The challenges we face today do not approach those of Lincoln's time, not even close, and we should be clear about that," Clinton said. "But recent events across America have left people asking if we are still a house divided."
Watch the full speech above and read the full transcript here.
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Originally posted at HillaryHQ.com