“‘I’m going to face one of my most public defeats head-on.’”
That’s former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, before going on to read for a new MasterClass session a portion of the victory speech she had planned to deliver on Election Night in 2016.
MasterClass, a subscription online education platform that often features high-profile experts from various walks of life sharing their expertise, engaged Clinton to teach a class titled “Power of Resilience.” And a preview video released by the “Today” show on Thursday reveals Clinton recounting her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. She doesn’t mention the former president by name.
“In this lesson, I’m going to face one of my most public defeats head-on by sharing with you the speech I had hoped to deliver if I had won the 2016 election,” Clinton says. And she begins: “My fellow Americans, today you sent a message to the whole world. Our values endure. Our democracy stands strong. And our motto remains: E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.”
“Today, with your children on your shoulders, your neighbors at your side, friends old and new standing as one, you renewed our democracy,” she continues. “And because of the honor you have given me, you have changed its face forever. I’ve met women who were born before women had the right to vote. They’ve been waiting a hundred years for tonight.”
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Her shelved victory speech highlights what would have been a historic moment in U.S. history: the election of the first female president. “I’ve met little boys and girls who didn’t understand why a woman has never been president before,” she says, continuing the speech recital. “Now they know, and the world knows, that in America, every boy and every girl can grow up to be whatever they dream — even president of the United States.”
“This is a victory for all Americans. Men and women. Boys and girls,” she continues. “Because as our country has proven once again, when there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit.”
Clinton also shares her wish that she’d been able to tell her late mother of her victory, at which the former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady grows visibly emotional; she pauses several times, before becoming choked up over the hardships her mother, Dorothy Howell Rodham, endured in her youth.
“I dream of going up to her, and sitting down next to her, taking her into my arms, and saying, ‘Look at me. Listen to me. You will survive. You will have a good family of your own. And three children. And as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up and become the president of the United States.’ “
Clinton continues, “I am as sure of this as anything I have ever known: America is the greatest country in the world. And from tonight going forward, together, we will make America even greater than it has ever been, for each and every one of us. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.”
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