Non-existent, I say. And the answer would go down as among the worst gaffes in the long history of presidential debates.
It turns out, though, that Donald Trump did turn to Bill Clinton for political advice as he was deciding whether to run for president. The Washington Post reports, and sources in the Clinton and Trump camps confirm, that Trump talked to Bill Clinton about the political landscape shortly before entering the race for the GOP nomination.
We shouldn’t be surprised. It’s no secret — though it’s not well known yet — that Donald Trump has a solid personal relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Hillary sat in the front row at Trump’s 2005 wedding, and Bill participated in the subsequent festivities. In addition, Trump has donated to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaigns and has contributed to the Clinton Foundation.
Given his obvious respect for the Clintons, it was natural that Trump wanted Bill Clinton’s candid, disinterested assessment of the political landscape before deciding whether to run for president. What seems unnatural is Trump’s faith that the husband of the (then) runaway Democratic frontrunner would provide a candid, disinterested assessment.
As the for the details of the call, it apparently came from Bill Clinton. However, a source in the Clinton camp said the former president was returning several calls Trump had made to him.
The Clinton camp insists that the two men didn’t discuss the presidential race, per se. But, as sources describe the conversation, the discussion certainly pertained to that race.
Trump was “candid about his political ambitions and his potential interest in seeking the White House during the talk,” according to his “allies.” As for Bill, he “listened intently and then analyzed Trump’s prospects and his desire to rouse the GOP base.”
Clinton never urged Trump to run, but he was “upbeat and encouraging.” He reportedly told Trump that the billionaire was striking a chord with frustrated conservatives and was a rising force on the right.
Clinton turned out to be right, which I suppose will be a big part of Trump’s defense if called upon to explain why he turned to Clinton for advice. Whether Clinton fully believed what he told Trump or was spinning on behalf of Hillary’s interests is not clear. At a minimum, though, Bill must have known that Trump had the potential to complicate significantly the GOP race. I don’t know whether Trump appreciated the irony, but I’m pretty sure Slick Willie drew amusement from the fact that this “rising force on the right” was seeking political advice from the one-time (and possibly future) bane of conservatives. I find it pretty amusing myself.
At the time of this discussion, Hillary had recently formally entered the race. This must have made it all the more fun for Bill to encourage the tossing of a stink bomb into the GOP camp.
And stink, it does.
That’s because Bill has to stay wit da beotch if she wins.
He can’t rape the CF for ho money, Gulfstreams, Cabo, Aruba or wherever the hell he goes off to whore around.
What stinks are the sources for this crap.
The stench is horrible indeed.
Of course he did.
Bill Clinton never lies. /sarc
So first ask & answer one question:
Does anyone believe the Washington Post or Bill Clinton would be telling this story if Trump was actually a Democrat/Clinton mole whose presence in the presidential race was meant to insure Democrat victory?The author's (Mirengoff) history includes writing articles for WaPo, but when he later wrote for Powerline he was very distrustful & critical of them. What undislosed loyalty has him now so trustful of them?
What is Trump’s version of this ‘story?’
If Bill was “upbeat and encouraging” wasn’t that tantamount to encouraging him to run?
Well, Trump certainly likes to report when some pol called him, looking for something, so it seems only right that Ol’ Bill report that Trump called him several times before Bill got back to him for this discussion.
But interesting that Bill chose to report this call now.
Trump has been calling Hillary the “worst Secretary of State ever” really from the day he ran. If he has this sort of relationship with the Clintons I could see him explaining how and why he thinks he has to do so—such as building credibility on the right, before an eventual independent (Perot redux) run.
But why is Bill bringing it up now?
Oh, so what? Bill Clinton is the ultimate overgrown adolescent. He schmoozed the Donald for his proximity to Mandy and its trappings
That’s the essence of Clinton. He was never anything more
The guy who comes over because you guys have the good junk food. He uses people for use of their pool
He Is immature and unprincipled about everything in life that would fit a grown up individual
Of course he would schmooze trump.
Interesting to see the Trump haters adopting the leftists’ favorite form of ‘journalism.’ I.e.: poorly or unsourced smear and innuendo. And then there’s the hallmark of leftist ‘journalism,’—that the Republican being smeared is not allowed to give their version, or certainly not allowed a flat denial. It wouldn’t be leftist ‘journalism’ if it were fair to the other side.
Cruz should be able to attract a higher quality of supporter.
Don't worry, the RNC has already selected Jeb Bush as our candidate and he will lose to Hillary. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
Why would Bill want to go back to the White House? He’d be under scrutiny again. He’s got his “harem” to pick from and is basically free to do whatever he wants. Heading back to DC would cramp his style worse than the occasional publicity outings with the old ball and chain. He’s got it made? Why would he even consider helping Hillary if he can avoid it?
I don’t see anything wrong with Trump talking to Clinton. Politics is business for these people. In business, you mingle with your competition at trade shows, try to get them drunk and get something you can beat them over the head with. I’ve met sales reps that would sleep with their competitor just to get the new product release date. FYI - I was young, single and she got the wrong date. :)
File this under careful what you wish for because you may just get it good and hard.
Let’s assume Trump did ask Clinton for advice. Exactly what is wrong with that?
I’m certainly no Clinton fan at all, there’s just too much corruption all the way around, and his old lady is a flat out Marxist.
But a favorable point regarding Bill, is he’s an outstanding politician. He knows how to read any and all political. Rush has pointed this out several times.
With that in mind, considering Bill’s political talent, it’s really a good idea to just ask. This does not mean they will be holding hands, making backroom deals or any of the sort.
On the plus side, many dems see Bill as a good President while they see obama as a bad one along with Hillary and the others as no choice at all. For them to see Trump just getting along with Clinton is a plus for Trump come voting time.
Now if Trump started sucking up to obama, or Carter, then I’d start to squirm.
And stink, it does.
What stinks is we can not get a straight talking honest person who genuinely loves America, follows the USC, and want to see its LEGAL citizens pursue happiness.
Look at our leaders they all look like “b” actors and off off broadway theater actors. Bad salon tans and manicured nails. Empty suits and talking heads. They talk tough when they are campaigning but then turn into democrat lite once they are in?
We are virtually powerless to stop it. How do can you stop someone who is willing to lie, and do anything, every step of the way in order to appear that they are on your side?
So now we condemn a guy because someone called him?
The GOP has picking loser candidates down to a science.
Think back to 2012.
Would anyone on this site have made up excuses for Romney had he been the one taking a call of encouragement from Clinton?