Bill Clinton Defends Clinton Foundation: 'We're Trying to Do Good Things'

— -- Today, Bill Clinton made his first public comments about the would-be Clinton Foundation changes if Hillary Clinton is elected president. His remarks come after a string of attacks from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has called for the foundation to be shut down.

“We’re trying to do good things,” said Bill Clinton in response to recent criticism. “If there’s something wrong with creating jobs and saving lives, I don’t know what it is. The people who gave the money knew exactly what they were doing. I have nothing to say about it except I’m really proud.”

Speaking in Atlanta, the former president went on to defend his foundation and its more than 300,000 donors worldwide. He said that the foundation has already found partners who want to take over many of the programs it facilitates.

Bill Clinton told his staff on Thursday that he would officially step down from the board of the Clinton Foundation if Hillary Clinton becomes the next president and that he will stop fundraising on its behalf.

Today, he stressed that the foundation would not shut down and that the transition will take some time.

“You just can’t do this stuff overnight. Not if you don’t want anybody to lose their jobs or their form of income or their lives. That’s my only concern. And I want to take care of the people who work for me and give them a reasonable time to transition which they will.”

He reiterated that regardless of the outcome of the election, above all, he is pleased with the work the foundation has done. “I'm really proud of what we did and nothing that has been said in the last few days has done anything to dampen that,” said Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton was in Atlanta for a fundraiser for his wife, and he will continue a fundraising throughout the remainder of the week. Earlier in the day, he visited Pulse nightclub in Orlando to pay his respects to the victims of the June 12 shooting.