Bill Clinton calls Donald Trump 'fact-free'
Bill Clinton called out Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying the Republican presidential candidate's statements about his wife, Hillary Clinton — including that she was "perhaps the worst secretary of state in history" — are "fact-free."
"You know, if he becomes the nominee, he'll have to sort of hone his criticisms a little more finely because the facts will be easy to marshal," Clinton told CNN's Erin Burnett. "But you know, he's good at this, that's what he does. And the people that he is telling it to now basically have only heard that story, so they believe it and it's probably good politics for him." Clinton cited his wife's ability to get Russia and China to agree to impose sanctions on Iran before the nuclear deal negotiations as a sign Trump is wrong. "Even the Republicans admit that the sanctions on Iran were well done," he said. Also, he added, Trump "told me what a good job [Hillary Clinton] did in the Senate for New York after 9/11."
Clinton, who said he does think Trump has a chance at securing the nomination, has a tip for him: Start sharing more ideas. "You have to be able to be identified," he said. "But at some point you also have to say what you are going to do. You can't just spend all your time saying everything everybody else did was wrong and they were all doofuses."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
The 8 best action movies of the 21st centurythe week recommends Thrills come in many forms, from assassins and spies to regular people fighting for justice
-
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein: a TimelineIN DEPTH The alleged relationship between deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump has become one of the most acute threats to the president’s power
-
‘Latinos bring a wealth of knowledge and cultural connection to the ocean’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
