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Hillary Clinton Mirrors Lincoln 'House Divided' Speech In Springfield

Flickr user Marc Nozell / "Hillary Clinton in Hampton, NH (April 2007)" (CC v 2.0)

Hillary Clinton returned to Illinois’s capital city today to give a speech focused on racial tensions and other divisions that she says hold back the nation. 

Clinton says recent turmoil has blacks questioning whether their lives matter, while economic turmoil has workers questioning whether America cares about their future. She says in times like this, the nation needs a President who can pull all sides together.

“And that is why I believe Donald Trump is so dangerous,” Clinton said. “His campaign is as divisive as any we have seen in our lifetimes. It is built on stoking mistrust and pitting American against American.”

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder attended the rally and says he agrees. He says the Republican party used to be a party of inclusion during President Abraham Lincoln's administration in the 1860s. But it's changed.

"I really liked how she related the Republican party to Lincoln and how they've gone astray," Langfelder said. "And really you need to come back to center of what he stood for and that's what she hopes to do."

That remark came just after Clinton acknowledged the role politics has played in what she called Americans’ “sense of division.” She spoke at the Old State Capitol, the building where Abraham Lincoln gave his House divided speech more than 150 years ago.

  • Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky and Sarah Mueller contributed to this report.