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WATCH: Bill Clinton stands up for Harris at a campaign event in Georgia
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WATCH: Bill Clinton stands up for Harris at a campaign event in Georgia

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton made another campaign stop in Georgia on Monday, urging voters to back Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day.

The campaign stop came a day after the former president on Sunday called on churchgoers in Albany, Georgia, to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the office he once held.

Watch the former president’s comments in the player above.

“Uniting people and building, mending the breach, as Isaiah says, those are the things that work,” Clinton said. “Blaming, dividing, humiliating – they get you a lot of votes at election time, but they don’t work.”

Although Mount Zion Baptist Church was not yet completely full, a large crowd welcomed Clinton with a standing ovation. Many attendees were older, but some younger people were scattered among the benches.

“I think it was a great step forward for Southwest Georgia that the former president came to honor us at church today and spread the word about voting, especially among our young people,” said Takisha Campbell.

Georgia is one of seven states considered crucial in this year’s presidential race, and turnout among black voters could be key for Democrats to win the state’s 16 electoral votes.

Democrat Joe Biden won Georgia against then-President Donald Trump in 2020 with 11,779 votes out of more than 5 million cast. That was the first time a Democrat captured the state since Clinton in 1992. Four years later, Clinton lost the state to Republican Bob Dole, but won reelection.

In 1992, Clinton and then-Sen. Al Gore drove a campaign bus through southwest Georgia to court rural voters. Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz revived the approach earlier this year by visiting Savannah and Liberty County in the southeastern part of the state, but they did not travel west.

Albany is a historic site in the Civil Rights Movement. At Mount Zion, Clinton reminisced about a time when politics was less polarized and lamented a political climate poisoned with misinformation.

He pointed to the post of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who claimed on X that Democrats caused Hurricane Helene, which tore through the Southeast last month. And he said Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, who has repeatedly failed to acknowledge that Trump lost the White House in 2020, was a “yes man” to Trump.

At the Black Church, Clinton played up Harris’ achievements and promises, including her involvement in Biden’s work to lower insulin costs and revive the economy. He said she would pave the way for greater economic opportunity, citing her plan to provide financial assistance to first-time homeowners.

Regina Whearry, who attended the service, said she wished more people knew the former president was coming. But she appreciated the way Clinton touched on both policy and Scripture.

“It was desperately needed because we have very low turnout in this area, especially among our black men,” Whearry said.

Democrats see Clinton as someone who can mobilize rural voters as well as black voters. But while Clinton has been recognized for his popularity in southern black communities, it remains to be seen whether he can still inspire black voters as the population familiar with his presidency ages. But he didn’t hesitate to describe the stakes of this year’s race.

READ MORE: Trump is gaining ground among some black men. Here’s how Harris can change his mind

“This entire election and the future of the country will turn out to be what people who were not yet sure of their right to vote will do over the next three and a half weeks,” Clinton said. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Black registered voters have overwhelmingly positive views of Harris and negative views of Trump, despite his efforts to appeal to non-white voters, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But the poll also shows that many black voters are unsure whether Harris would improve the country in general or their own lives.

Albany was an early battleground in the struggle for civil rights. The city gained national attention when hundreds of protesters, including Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested and jailed in 1961 and 1962.

Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas before becoming president, also spoke at the Harris campaign’s offices in Albany and said he had asked the campaign to send him to the rural areas where he feels most at home.