Hillary Clinton speaks at Apollo Theater in Harlem

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Hillary Clinton holds campaign rally in Harlem
Dave Evans reports on Hillary Clinton's campaign event at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

HARLEM, New York (WABC) -- Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton was in Manhattan Wednesday making a brief campaign swing through Harlem just weeks ahead of the New York Democratic primary.

She hosted a rally at the famed Apollo Theater to discuss her plans for income inequality, national security and uniting the nation.

The New York primary, when 291 delegates will be up for grabs, is April 19. Clinton continues to lead Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the overall delegate count.

Clinton is leading Sanders in New York by a large margin, according to the latest polling, but the surging Brooklyn-born progressive has tightened the race in recent weeks after sweeping five of the six contests since March 22.

Sanders will hold a rally Thursday afternoon in the South Bronx to discuss a wide range of issues, including getting big money out of politics, his plan to make public colleges and universities tuition-free, combating climate change and ensuring universal health care.

Clinton also will hold fundraisers later Wednesday in New York City, and plans to campaign again in her home county of Westchester Thursday, at SUNY Purchase.

At the Apollo, Clinton unleashed a scathing attack against fellow New Yorker Donald Trump, saying the Republican front-runner is running a campaign of "bluster and bigotry."

Clinton accused Trump of playing "coy with white supremacists" and for saying "demeaning and degrading things about women."

She also sharply criticized his plan to deport illegal immigrants and ban Muslims from entering the country.

"It's cynical," she said. "It's wrong and goes against everything New York and American stand for."

She also slammed Republican Ted Cruz's plan to increase police surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods as "a type of profiling." The mention of both Republican candidates' names drew loud boos from the enthusiastic crowd.

Clinton drew sharp contrasts between herself and Sanders, calling into question his ability to "get things done."

She said that "my opponent says we're not thinking big enough."

"Well, this is New York," she said, adding that "no one dreams bigger than we do. " But she added, this is a city that "actually liked to get things done and that's what we want for our president too."

She also suggested that Sanders was solely focused on combatting income inequality and not doing enough to address issues like guns and, especially, racial discrimination. That drew loud cheers from the predominantly black crowd gathered in the theater.


(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)