Story Highlights
Bill Clinton stopped short of apologizing for his response to Black Lives Matter protesters on Thursday.
cnn
—
Bill Clinton, while campaigning for his wife's presidential bid on Friday, addressed a heated exchange with Black Lives Matter protesters earlier in the week, saying it bothers him when protesters drown him out, but adding that he “almost” wanted to apologize for your answer.
“We see all these demonstrations interrupted by angry people. Now I like them and believe in protests. I would be a hypocrite if I didn't because I participated in some when I was a kid, but I never thought I should choke anyone else out,” Clinton said at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, referring to the 15-minute exchange. that he had with protesters in Philadelphia on Thursday.
“And I confess that maybe it's just a sign of old age, but now it bothers me when that happens. “So yesterday I did something in Philadelphia that I almost want to apologize for, but I want to use it as an example of the danger that threatens our country.”
RELATED: Bill Clinton confronts Black Lives Matter protesters
“I know those kids yesterday were just trying to get good television, and they did, but that doesn't mean I've been any more effective in responding,” Clinton said.
Clinton went on to say that to move forward as a country, all sides of the debate must listen to both sides.
On Thursday, protesters chanted that “young black men are not super predators,” disagreeing with a phrase then-first lady Hillary Clinton used in a 1996 speech about violent crimes committed by young people.
They also booed Bill Clinton for the 1994 crime bill he signed as president that cracked down on gangs but also imprisoned more nonviolent offenders for longer stays.
“You are defending the people who killed the lives that you say matter,” the former president told protesters.
One protester's signs declared, in apparent reference to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, that “Hillary is a murderer.” Protesters repeatedly shouted about Clinton, ignoring her responses and also invoking Clinton's ties to Wall Street.
