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Andrew Gillum Tapped as DNC Speaker

politico.com

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum will be a speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

“I do recognize that the stage is a big one and I’m not a keynote speaker,” he said on Thursday (7/21) moments after the Hillary Clinton campaign gave the go-ahead for the announcement. “I’ll be making my own very small contribution to it and that’s what I keep telling myself to make sure I stay in check and humble about what all this means and not throw my guts up!”

Gillum said the invitation came after a meeting with Clinton campaign officials in New York City last week; a meeting that included former President Bill Clinton.

“I got back and got a call from one of the senior officials in the campaign saying that, ‘Secretary Clinton and the President would be honored if you would be a speaker during the convention,” Gillum recalled. “Obviously I was elated. I said, ‘Of course’!”

He doesn’t know the day or time he’ll be speaking, but Gillum said his speech will include praise for Hillary Clinton’s record on children and family issues, as well as the need for more national unity in a time of great partisan division.

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Tom Flanigan has been with WFSU News since 2006, focusing on covering local personalities, issues, and organizations. He began his broadcast career more than 30 years before that and covered news for several radio stations in Florida, Texas, and his home state of Maryland.

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