GOP candidates condemn Trump's Bill Clinton attacks

Republican presidential candidates in the middle of the field slammed Donald Trump’s approach to attacking Hillary Clinton by associating her with her husband’s treatment of women.

In a series of interviews conducted by MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” over the weekend at the Kemp Forum on Expanding Opportunity in South Carolina, the contenders largely rejected the focus on the former president’s marital infidelities and alleged past sexual crimes. Referring to a New York Times editorial published last Friday headlined “Donald Trump Drags Bill Clinton’s Baggage Out,” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski pressed the issue.


“Focus on the present and the future,” Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said. “Doing what he did, was it appropriate? Heck no, it wasn’t. You know, of course it wasn’t. But that’s long gone. Bill Clinton’s not running for president. Hillary Clinton is.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, meanwhile, speculated that the former first lady “stood by him because she’s married to him,” remarking that he would not be president if it meant going after Bill Clinton.

“Look, I just don’t like that stuff. It’s been around American politics throughout our history, people calling people names,” Kasich continued. “But to me, Hillary would be defeated because I really believe, Mika, she has no vision. I don’t want to spend my time bashing Bill Clinton. I’m not interested. I’m sorry. If that’s what it takes for me to be president, I’m not interested. Now if Bill comes out and starts talking about how great he is, then we could talk about his record. But I just don’t, I don’t like politics like that.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie echoed the sentiment, adding that he thought “the American people have made their judgments on Bill Clinton” and that “there’s a difference between discussing Secretary Clinton’s conduct and President Clinton’s conduct.” Republicans cannot win with that approach, he said.

At the same time, Christie acknowledged that “whether it’s fair or not, everything’s fair game in today’s world” when it comes to presidential campaigns.

“I don’t necessarily agree with all that, but it is the truth of the matter. And so, you know, she’s going to have to live with those things,” Christie went on. “My point on this, in response to your question, is I don’t think we as Republicans put forth a winning campaign by relitigating Bill Clinton’s past mistakes and his past conduct.”

In his interview, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said there is a double standard applied to Republicans when it comes to political attacks.

“Everything is fair in politics if you’re beating up a Republican,” he said. “There’s nothing ever held back. If she has talked about women’s rights and the importance of standing up for women and believing women when they make a claim, then it matters. If she hadn’t said that or she no longer believes that, then there’s not an issue.”