Bill Clinton Interrupted by Call From Hillary During Speech

ByMATTHEW CLAIBORNE ABCNews logo
Friday, January 8, 2016

Bill Clinton made his first official campaign stop in Iowa today, stumping for his wife, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Before the president could jump into his speech, he was briefly interrupted by a phone call from his wife.

Just as the president began to talk about the rapidly rising opiate and heroin epidemic, his phone began buzzing in his pocket.

"There are other issues that keep Americans up at night and... my phone's ringing," said a surprised Clinton as the crowd laughed. "I'll have to call Hillary back and explain why I couldn't take it."

After a few laughs from the crowd of a little more than 500 people, the former president swung right back into his stump, attacking Republicans on wanting to repeal Obamacare and President Obama's new gun control reforms.

"We can't allow a new president with this congress to undo every good thing that has been achieved when President Obama was in office," said Clinton, who has drastically changed his tune since when he first hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton eight years ago. He was heavily criticized for his attacks against then-Senator Obama saying "This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen" about Obama's campaign.

Clinton also made sure to remind the audience of how the US economy was thriving under his administration. "The only time we had broad based prosperity was when I served," said Clinton. But he quickly stated that he was only talking up his own administration to highlight how instrumental of a role he believed Hillary Clinton played.

"It's not about me", said Clinton. "It's about what we did together for inclusive economics."

President Clinton will continue to be deployed by Hillary Clinton's campaign until the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary and possibly beyond. And next week, Chelsea Clinton will join the campaign trail for the first time this election cycle.

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