In recent weeks, The Scrapbook has not been unique in coming to three related conclusions about the Hillary Clinton machine. One, she’s already doubling down on running a “War on Women,” identity-politics-driven campaign. Two, Hillary Clinton is such a terrible candidate and this female-centric campaign is so ham-handed—see the article “7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela” on her website for a good example of why it’s no bueno—that hubby Bill has been hitting the trail to gin up support. And three, compensating for a charisma deficiency by leaning on your notoriously lecherous husband can’t help but put a damper on the whole “Girl Power” theme.
So whatever one might otherwise think about Donald Trump, and let’s just say he didn’t exactly get a holiday gift basket from The Weekly Standard, it has been gratifying to watch him shove this deep contradiction in the faces of the liberal establishment. He’s been at it on Twitter for a while, tweeting things such as “If Hillary thinks she can unleash her husband, with his terrible record of women abuse, while playing the women’s card on me, she’s wrong!” It’s a smart move for Trump, because while he has his own poor track record of sexist comments, he’s a veritable Sir Galahad in comparison with “the Big He.” Even the Washington Post‘s Ruth Marcus had to write a column conceding that while “Trump has smeared women because of their looks,” Bill Clinton “has preyed on them, and in a workplace setting where he was by far the superior. That is uncomfortable for Clinton supporters but it is unavoidably true.”
Still, Marcus’s criticisms of Clinton seem carefully couched rather than expressly condemnatory. In general, the media are at a loss for how to handle this glaring contradiction at the heart of Hillary Clinton’s campaign to be the first female president. Take this word salad from NBC’s Savannah Guthrie when interviewing Trump on December 29: “You mention Monica Lewinsky. Are you saying an alleged extramarital affair, that of course he has now admitted, is that fair game?”
We do enjoy how Guthrie’s question presupposes that Bill Clinton’s admission he had an affair after angrily and repeatedly lying to the public about it means talking about his predatory behavior is somehow unfair. Trump was quick to point out to Guthrie, “If he’s admitted it, you don’t have to use the word ‘alleged.’ ”
But that was nothing compared with what CNN’s Don Lemon engaged in when he had to discuss the topic. Lemon asked columnist and retired Army colonel Kurt Schlichter whether it was appropriate for Trump to say that Hillary Clinton got “schlonged” by Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary. Schlichter, who is a critic of Trump, responded, “Don, it’s going to take a lot more for me to get upset at a woman who enabled a guy who turned the Oval Office into a frat house and his intern into a humidor. . . . I would need Stephen Hawking to find the theoretical limit of how little I care about Donald Trump’s silly jokes.”
Lemon persisted in arguing that Trump’s recent comments were somehow more relevant than Clinton’s past behavior. “Okay, have you ever heard a presidential candidate say things like this?” Lemon asked Schlichter. “No,” Schlichter responded, “but I know of a president who, well, turned his intern into a humidor, so we set the standard a little lower than Donald Trump has even approached.” Backed into a corner where it was impossible to defend the Clintons, Lemon cut off Schlichter.
While nobody is looking forward to relitigating the vulgar particulars of Bill Clinton’s Oval Office shenanigans, it may be inevitable if Hillary Clinton wants to campaign for president by insisting that her chief qualification is an extra X chromosome. We are, however, looking forward to watching Bill and Hillary squirm during the incessant barrage of awkward questions her campaign is going to prompt.
