Clinton slams Trump's RNC hours before making VP announcement

TAMPA, Fla. — In her first appearance since Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination in Cleveland, Hillary Clinton rallied supporters at a fairgrounds here, slamming the other party’s convention as “dark” and isolationist.

“Did any of you watch that convention in Cleveland?” Clinton asked the crowd of about 3,600 people. “It was kind of perversely flattering. It’s hard to believe they spent so much time talking about me and no time talking about jobs and education.”

At the GOP convention this week, delegates frequently erupted into chants of “Lock her up!,” speaking of Clinton. Before Clinton spoke, some in the crowd chanted, “Lock him out!,” a satiric dig at Trump’s intention to build a border wall.

Clinton, who later Friday announced Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, said that watching Trump’s Thursday speech, “You could think, ‘My goodness, he believes America is in decline.’”

Clinton slammed Trump for saying “I alone” can fix the country’s problems. “I can’t really imagine him on a white horse, but that seems to be what he’s telling us,” she joked. “That’s not a democracy, my friends. As I recall, we had a revolution to make sure we didn’t have someone who said, ‘I can fix it alone,’” she said.

“The last thing we need is someone running for president who talks trash about America,” she said, echoing a line Kaine said when he appeared with her last week.

Earlier in the day, Clinton attended a roundtable in Orlando, Fla., with Mayor Buddy Dyer and other community leaders about the Pulse terror attack. She visited a memorial for the dead before heading to Tampa.

“We need more love and kindness in this country,” Clinton said. “We need to be listening more to each other. The last thing we need are leaders who try to divide us even more than we are.”

The crowd erupted into chants of “USA!” and Clinton declared, “I am proud to be American.”