On the eve of the Electoral College’s final vote, Bill solidified his sore loser status and risked damaging his wife’s image even further.
Known as a great communicator while he was president, Bill has done little to maintain that reputation in recent years. Back then, his love for public speaking was obvious — he was witty; he was charming; he even managed to bite his lip and get away with it.
That same smooth-talking former president has turned into bitter, old Uncle Bill.
Bill’s charm, lauded on both sides of the aisle while he occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, was non-existent during Hillary’s campaigns. In fact, it’s reasonable to claim that he seemed to hurt her on the stump. In Hillary’s 2008 primary against President Obama, Bill called Obama and his campaign a “fairy tale” at a stop in South Carolina. His statements were thought to have racist undertones, and he offended a large portion of the electorate.
Now let’s fast-forward to 2016, when Bill labeled Obamacare the “craziest thing in the world.” It’s like he didn’t know healthcare was a big part of his wife’s platform.
But as we learned yesterday, Bill Clinton isn’t done.
After the election, both candidates were unexpectedly gracious towards one another. Hillary’s concession speech was authentic (because she really was trying not to cry) and Donald shocked his voters by saying he wouldn’t go after her post-election.
Hillary and Donald ended on a civil high note to (I hope) set the tone for a peaceful transition. And then Bill said yesterday of president-elect Trump: “[he] doesn’t know much” but “one thing he does know is how to get angry, white men to vote for him.” Moreover, Bill blamed Comey for his wife’s loss and claimed that he won by much more in 1992 than Trump did a few weeks ago. “Landslide? I got something like 370 electoral votes. That was a landslide.”
Instead of packing up their dignity and hiking into the sunset, Bill made himself and his wife seem like sore losers.
Whether it’s his past sexual indiscretions that made it difficult for Hillary to bash Trump on women, his flippant comments that undermined her policy, or careless words that alienated the base, Bill became the husband that Democrats just wanted to stay home. Turns out, his ability to charm and command an audience had an expiration date.
Beverly Hallberg is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is president of District Media Group. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
