WASHINGTON — The left is already coalescing behind her for a 2016 presidential run, but Hillary Clinton avoided talking national politics during a film screening about Nelson Mandela in Washington on Wednesday evening.
Speaking from a podium at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, the former Secretary of State gave brief remarks before a screening of the soon-to-be released “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Colin Powell also spoke before the film.
Clinton’s speech focused exclusively on Mandela, the former president of South Africa. “There’s so much to admire and learn from Mandela’s life, but it’s important not to place him in a pantheon above and beyond all the rest of us human beings because he is so human,” she said.
Politics made one appearance during the program when the moderator of the event, former Clinton aide Paul Begala, cracked a joke about the “Cheney Thanksgiving dinner” — apparently in reference to the recent public family feud between former vice president Dick Cheney’s daughters over gay marriage.
Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer of the film and ardent Democrat supporter, praised Clinton. “I just love everything she’s done,” he said.
The film about the life of Mandela opens in theaters on Nov. 29.
