Democrats on Sunday warned Donald Trump against mentioning former President Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions in the upcoming presidential debate, arguing the issue is old news.
“We want this campaign to be about the issues,” Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook insisted in a Sunday interview on CBS News. “Look, the Clintons had a rough time in their marriage 20 years ago. That was litigated out. At this debate tonight, and in in the rest of this campaign, we want to focus on the issues, and that is what Hillary is going to do.”
The remarks come amid the weekend firestorm caused by Friday’s publication of lewd comments Trump made about women in 2005. Trump has long said that if gender became an issue in the campaign, he would bring up the former president’s improprieties. In the hours leading up to a presidential debate scheduled for Sunday evening, many of his supporters seemed to be urging him to make good on that threat.
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Those leading the charge included Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick and Paula Jones, all of whom have alleged that Clinton perpetrated sexual misconduct against them. The allegations were amplified and put on display by the Drudge Report throughout the weekend, which prominently featured claims from the three that they were “terrified” of Hillary Clinton, and an accusation that she “enabled” her husband’s alleged misconduct.
Mook nonetheless said that while he viewed Trump’s past comments as “horrifying and unfortunate,” Trump should stick to the issues in the next debate. “This race is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, not between Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.
“If we need to discuss the issues that were raised in that video with Donald Trump, that is fine. But the question here is, what is Hillary Clinton’s take on that issue? Not her husband’s,” Mook added.
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi struck a similar chord in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, saying that she did not believe Trump would bring up the former president. “No, because you know why? Elections are about the future. They’re about the future. He’s talking about something, Bill Clinton, he’s not on the ballot.”
Trump provided cause to believe Pelosi’s forecast could be mistaken. Taking to Twitter even as Clinton’s surrogates engaged in the circuit of Sunday interviews, Trump repeatedly tweeted out one of the same reports linked by Drudge earlier in the day. “Broaddrick, Willey, Jones to Bill’s Defenders: ‘These Are Crimes,’ ‘Terrified’ of ‘Enabler’ Hillary,” said the message, linking to a video interview with the three published by Breitbart.
Exclusive Video–Broaddrick, Willey, Jones to Bill’s Defenders: ‘These Are Crimes,’ ‘Terrified’ of ‘Enabler’ Hillary https://t.co/DMfLsIbtU1
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2016
With the clash just hours away, Pelosi did make an effort to hedge her bets, arguing that voters should turn against Republicans based on the issues rather than Trump’s words. “What’s really important to note about all of this is, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress when it comes to issues that really affect people’s lives.
“Disrespect for women, whether it’s disrespect by saying equal pay for equal work, respecting a woman’s decision to make about the size and timing of her family, whether it’s about Medicare and Social Security … issues that relate to the well-being of women are more important than locker room talk,” Pelosi said.
