# Did Bill Clinton Ever Say 'I Feel Your Pain'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 26, 2003, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111 "2003-12-26T11:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/1 "2003-12-26T11:43:53Z")
As a cliché, it is something that we will always associate with President Clinton. It sounds like something he would have said during the 1992 presidential campaign, or perhaps shortly after taking office in early 1993. And not remembering clearly myself, it is something I have wondered for the longest time now: did Bill Clinton ever really say “I feel your pain”? Does anyone know of any speech he made, perhaps an inaugural or other famous speech, where he really says those words (or words very close to that)? Or at the very least, does anyone know of any credible source that says he ever said that? Just wondering 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/2 "2003-12-26T12:19:08Z")
As I recall, it was during the 1992 presidential campaign. It was either a town-hall type meeting, or an audience-participation debate. In any event, an audience member related a tale of woe, and Clinton prefaced his reply with “I feel your pain”. Googling doesn’t seem to be much help, as it is such a Clinton cliche now that most cites that come up are Clinton-bashing sites. I am quite confident that he did in fact say this during the 92 campaign though. I am kind of curious how close my memory is to the actual event. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/3 "2003-12-26T12:24:06Z")
This site: [http://www.actupny.org/campaign96/rafsky-clinton.html](http://www.actupny.org/campaign96/rafsky-clinton.html) claims to have a video of the exchange. > [@](#): > > April 2, 1992 > > ACT UP member Bob Rafsky confronts candidate Bill Clinton at a New York City fundraiser. Rafsky (quoting from Vito Russo): “We’re not dying of AIDS as much as we are dying of 11 years of government neglect.” > > Clinton replies: “I feel your pain.” I don’t have RealPlayer installed, and I’m not going to install it. Someone else can check it if they want. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/4 "2003-12-26T13:14:09Z")
Hrm. No file found. I googled “Rafsky Clinton” and actually came up with this regarding the exchange. It’s a UPI story from clarinet (remember that) from 1992. In it, he never did say “I feel your pain”. I still am quite sure he DID say it, though, but I don’t think he said to to this Rafsky guy. [http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=politicsU2MR820ae%40clarinet.com&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain](http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=politicsU2MR820ae%40clarinet.com&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain) > [@](#): > > Clinton lashed out at an ACT-UP member Bob Rafsky during a New York > speech to several hundred lawyers Thursday night. > Rafsky heckled Clinton for not paying enough attention to AIDS, > saying the candidate was `dying of ambition.'' Clinton exploded, shaking his finger at Rafsky and almost shouting: `I’m sick and tired of people who don’t know me making their snotty- > nosed remarks. I’ve had about enough of this. I have listened to all > these attacks, attacks, attacks on me. That’s just a bunch of bull.’’ > Clinton told Rafsky, `I understand you're hurting. You can't stop hurting by trying to hurt oither people.'' As for ambition, Clinton said, `If I were dying of amibition, I > wouldn’t have stood up here and put up with all this crap I’ve put up > with over the past six months.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/5 "2003-12-26T13:14:41Z")
OK, that site’s probably complete crap. It just gives a file-not-found error. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/6 "2003-12-26T13:16:34Z")
Heh. Simulpost on the file-not-found. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/7 "2003-12-26T13:33:55Z")
Haha. I’ve been digging some more around google groups, and found [this](http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=phenry-1111962228310001%40blv-pm100-ip11.halcyon.com&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dclinton%2Bi%2Bfeel%2Byour%2Bpain%2B1992%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3Dphenry-1111962228310001%2540blv-pm100-ip11.halcyon.com%26rnum%3D2) exchange in alt.fan.cecil-adams, of all places. Someone asked this same question in 1996 and nobody was able to come up with any actual cites. I’m beginning to have a bit of doubt about this myself, now. Certainly MY memory couldn’t be as faulty as everyone else’s could it? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/8 "2003-12-26T14:17:00Z")
Stumped? Ask Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/9 "2003-12-26T20:32:43Z")
What part of the female anatomy is pain? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/10 "2003-12-26T20:36:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hermann \* > \*\*Stumped? Ask Snopes. \*\* You know something I don’t? I just checked Snopes, and it’s silent on this subject, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/11 "2003-12-26T20:41:49Z")
I checked snopes too. Hermann was just being snooty. I’d really like to know whether clinton said this! I was so sure he did, but now I’m not so sure. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/12 "2003-12-26T22:05:26Z")
Down around paragraph 29 in his [1993 Inaugural Address](http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres64.html), he makes a reference to America’s pain. I am also sure I remember seeing a news clip wherein he made the “I feel your pain” comment in a campaign speech, but can’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/13 "2003-12-27T00:59:02Z")
Anybody with access to LEXIS/NEXIS that could do a search of papers during the 1992 campaign period? ---
**Author:** ![Quint\_Essence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/54ee81/32.png) [@Quint\_Essence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint_Essence)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/14 "2003-12-27T01:36:08Z")
I may be off base here but I seem to remember a saturday night live skit where Clinton was portrayed as that guy in the star trek movie that takes them to meet “god”. Only “God” was the republican party. Clinton destroys the being by saying “Come closer…I feel your pain” like the guy does in the original movie. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/15 "2003-12-27T02:18:33Z")
I just re-read all three of the 1992 debates and didn’t find it in there, so perhaps it was in one of the town hall meetings. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/16 "2003-12-27T02:45:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by obfusciatrist \* > \*\*Anybody with access to LEXIS/NEXIS that could do a search of papers during the 1992 campaign period? \*\* From a _New York Times_ article (3/28/1992): > [@](#): > > **HEADLINE** : THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Verbatim; > Heckler Stirs Clinton Anger: Excerpts From the Exchange > > **Body** > _Following are excerpts from an exchange on Thursday between Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Bob Rafsky, a member of the AIDS activism group Act Up, at Laura Belle, a nightclub in Midtown Manhattan, as recorded by the Cable News Network:_ > > RAFSKY. This is the center of the AIDS epidemic, what are you going to do? Are you going to start a war on AIDS? Are you going to just go on and ignore it? Are you going declare war on AIDS? Are you going to put somebody in charge? Are you going to do more than you did as the Governor of Arkansas? We’re dying in this state. What are you going to do about AIDS? > > \ > > CLINTON. And let me tell you something else. Let me tell you something else. You do not have the right to treat any human being, including me, with no respect because of what you’re worried about. I did not cause it. I’m trying to do something about it. I have treated you and all the people who’ve interrupted my rally with a hell of a lot more respect than you’ve treated me, and it’s time you started thinking about that. > > **I feel your pain, I feel your pain** , but if you want to attack me personally you’re no better than Jerry Brown and all the rest of these people who say whatever sounds good at the moment. If you want something to be done, you ask me a question and you listen. If you don’t agree with me, go support somebody else for President but quit talking to me like that. This is not a matter of personal attack; it’s a matter of human wrong. > > \ The LexisNexis search for 1992 also turned up this from _The Record_ of Bergen (County?) on 2/18/1992: > [@](#): > > There is little talk these days of the Reagan legacy, multicultural dangers to education, or the decline of the West, themes sounded in Buchanan’s announcement speech last December. Now Buchanan is telling voters, “I feel your pain,” and is characterizing his campaign as one of economic protest against an unfeeling president and a recalcitrant Congress. So Pat Buchanan’s use of “I feel your pain” pre-dates Clinton’s. The search turned up one other occurrence of the phrase in _The Union Leader_ (Manchester, VT) on 2/5/1992 by an alderman: > [@](#): > > “He (President Bush) says, ‘I feel your pain.’ That’s because he’s doing it to us,” Ward 8 Alderman Raymond Buckley said. It looks like Clinton did say “I feel your pain”, though he wasn’t the first. Theoretically, CNN recorded the exchange, so it might exist somewhere. Note: My LexisNexis search was only for 1/1/1992 - 12/31/1992 and Northeast Regional Sources only. ---
**Author:** ![Rut\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rut\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rut_Dog)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/17 "2010-09-30T20:47:09Z")
Here it is, at long last. An actual video of the quote: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heScHR7D9TY) Interesting how different the moment is from how it is portrayed in lore. He says it in powerful rebuke of a heckler. But then he goes on to soothe things over and ends on a very compassionate note. (He handled this situation really well, I think, turned it to his advantage.) But the legend of “I Feel Your Pain” is more typified by his “Debate Moment”, which is what comes up if you do a GougleTube search of “I Feel Your Pain”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ta_SFvgbrlY/hqdefault.jpg "Clinton's Debate Moment") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta_SFvgbrlY) p.s. I found the actual clip by googling Bob Rafsky. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/18 "2010-09-30T20:52:06Z")
Is this how you’ve spent the last seven years? ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/19 "2010-09-30T21:06:50Z")
> [@hermann](#): > > Stumped? Ask Snopes. hey, i want my name back :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111/20 "2010-09-30T21:07:59Z")
oops…that may have been me…didn’t notice the date of the post [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-bill-clinton-ever-say-i-feel-your-pain/221111.md?page=2)