Giuliani: Hillary Clinton 'never liked' Arkansans

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Arkansas delegates to the Republican convention Thursday that Hillary Clinton loathes Arkansas. “She doesn’t like you and she never liked you and she always resented you,” he said.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Arkansas delegates to the Republican convention Thursday that Hillary Clinton loathes Arkansas. “She doesn’t like you and she never liked you and she always resented you,” he said.

CLEVELAND -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani lambasted fellow New Yorker Hillary Clinton on Thursday morning, telling members of the Arkansas Republican delegation that their former first lady is a well-connected crook who looks down her nose at the Natural State.



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He portrayed Republican nominee Donald Trump as a successful businessman and called him "the ultimate outsider."

The 175 or so Arkansas activists cheered each partisan attack, shouting out the kind of affirmations one might hear at a church revival.

During his 23-minute address, Giuliani said Americans are fed up with politics as usual and are longing to elect someone who will shake up the status quo.

"I think that's what this race is about. This is us against Washington. This is us. Not just Republicans or Democrats, independents. [It's] all of us who feel that Washington has failed us," he said. "Well, if you elect Hillary Clinton, you elected Washington. She is Washington. She is owned completely by Washington. By the lobbyists and the special interest groups and the financial institutions."

Repeating one of the convention's frequent themes, he portrayed the presumptive Democratic nominee as a lawbreaker who deserves to be locked up.

"This is incredible what this woman has gotten away from. As a former United States attorney and associate attorney general I can't believe it," he said.

"I can't believe it either," shouted Billie Sue Goddard, the Craighead County Republican Party chairman.

"I promise you I have put people in jail for 10 percent of what she did," Giuliani added.

"Yes. Yes. Absolutely," audience members cried out.

"I believe this is going to be an insider-outsider election. I think there's going to be all those people that are really happy about the way Washington is because they're sucking a lot of money out of it. And they're going to vote for Hillary Clinton," he said. "Then there's going to be all the rest of us, the poor people, the middle-class people, even the upper middle-class people and big-business people that don't have the advantages of being part of the inside and they're going to vote for Donald Trump."

Predicting the Republicans would carry Arkansas in November, Giuliani said Clinton loathes the state she helped lead for nearly two decades, adding, "She doesn't like you and she never liked you and she always resented you. ... People in Arkansas who vote for her, they're out of their minds."

Giuliani was invited to speak by at the breakfast by former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark. The two men now work for Greenberg Traurig, the legal and lobbying firm that sponsored Thursday's meal.

The New Yorker didn't use any notes and his speech made numerous references to Arkansas and Arkansas leaders.

"This guy has a grasp on substance like very few politicians in America," Hutchinson said afterward. "I just think he's an amazingly gifted communicator who really gets people fired up."

Kermit Parks, a Trump delegate from El Dorado, said he was impressed by Giuliani's speech. "He's always charming, literate, informed and has the pulse of the people. To answer your question, he did a great job."

Goddard, the Jonesboro woman who shouted affirmations as Giuliani spoke, said afterward: "I was his cheerleader, you might say, encouraging him to 'Preach it on, brother.'"

As he prepared to depart, Giuliani said he'd be speaking to a group of New Yorkers next.

"You won't get as many 'Amens' there," someone shouted and the crowd burst into laughter.

"No, no," Giuliani replied with a chuckle, "They use different words."

As he moved toward the exit, he was asked what he thought of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas taking the stage Wednesday night and then refusing to endorse Trump.

Giuliani, who ran for president himself in 2008, said Cruz's snub would not be forgotten.

"Republicans are elephants. ... Elephants have very long memories. When you double-cross our candidate that way and you break a specific promise you made, how can we ever trust you," he said. "I don't trust people that break their word."

A Section on 07/22/2016

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