Donald Trump says he didn't bring up Bill Clinton's 'transgressions' because Chelsea was at the debate
Donald Trump personally entered the spin room at Hofstra University after his first presidential debate against Hillary Clinton, and he told ABC News reporter Tom Llamas that he left only one thing on the table: "I got everything I wanted to say, I got it out, other than the transgressions of Bill, because, you know, she takes all these commercials, spending hundreds of millions on commercials — and they're lies, they're lies — but I thought — and I didn't want to do it with Chelsea, who I think is a wonderful young lady, I didn't say what I was going to say with Chelsea in the room, so maybe they're well off to bring Chelsea all the time."
Llamas asked if it was fair for Clinton to bring up the $14 million loan from his father and his derogatory comments about women. "I thought it was very cheap," Trump said. "First of all, my father gave me a very small amount of money, relative to what I've built — I've built a massive company and a great company — but I learned so much from my father." He added that Clinton's comments about things he has said about women were "disgraceful," but not as bad as the TV ads she's running against him.
He told CNN's Dana Bash that he might bring up Bill Clinton's "indiscretions" at the next debate, but when Bash asked if he took "Hillary Clinton's bait" on the "birther" issue (which was raised by moderator Lester Holt), Trump said no. "I was very proud of the fact I was able to get him to put up his birth certificate and Hillary Clinton failed, because she just can't bring it home," he said. "I mean, she just can't bring it home. And she'll fail with jobs, and she'll fail all the way along the line, and I think we proved that tonight. She failed with getting him to do it, I got him to do it, so I'm very proud of it."
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Clinton, it should be noted, never asked to see President Obama's birth certificate, and never questioned if he was born in the U.S. But that's why it's called the spin room.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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