If he were any other candidate, I’d be trying to puzzle out why he thinks a few warm words by a scandal-drenched ex-president from the other party are worth touting during a Republican primary. There’s nothing that interesting in what Clinton says, after all. His points about Trump being a master media manipulator and trading off his alpha-male shtick are prosaic. If anything, Trump is a bigger fan of the Clintons than they are of him: He’s the one who invited them to his wedding, an inconvenient fact that will be revisited thanks to this clip. It’s especially weird to tout Clinton’s affection during a week when Republicans are debating whether Trump’s comments about George Bush and 9/11 were a fair shot or not. The most conspicuous flaw in that criticism was how Trump, unlike most other members of his party, didn’t put any blame on his pal Bill for failing to neutralize Al Qaeda before Bush took office. If we’re going to smack Dubya around for having harsh words for Ted Cruz but not for Obama, why not spare a slap for Trump for going easier on a Democrat than a Republican?
None of this would make sense — if he were any other candidate. But because he’s Trump, I figure this was motivated by one of two things. A: He thought it’d be a goof on Hillary somehow to showcase Bill talking about what a shrewd “brander” Trump is. B: Any praise of Trump by anyone famous is obviously worth showcasing, even if it’s from a guy who’ll spend every waking hour of the next 14 months plotting to destroy the GOP. (A cynic might speculate that that’s one of the reasons Clinton has been so eager to talk up Trump in the first place, in fact.) Anyway, two can play at this game — and will, if Trump makes it to the general election as the nominee.
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