One of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s biggest critics is the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board. On Tuesday, however, the paper gave the billionaire developer rare credit.
The Journal said Trump was right to recently attack Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton regarding her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and his history with women.
“Mr. Trump is rude and crude, but in this case he is raising an issue that rightly bears on the 2016 election campaign and the prospect of a third Clinton term,” the Journal wrote. “Mrs. Clinton wants to use her gender both as a political sword and shield to win the White House. The purpose is to make male politicians less willing to take her on, while reinforcing her main and not-so-subtle campaign theme that it’s time to elect the first woman president.”
Trump and Hillary Clinton have accused each other of sexism over the past several days. She said in an interview that Trump had a “penchant for sexism,” an accusation Trump returned on social media after reports that Bill Clinton would start helping her campaign.
Bill Clinton was accused throughout his political career of assaulting several women and he admitted to an extramarital affair with a White House intern nearing the end of his second term as president.
“Mr. Clinton was a genuine sexual harasser in the classic definition of exploiting his power as a workplace superior,” the Journal said, “and the Clinton entourage worked hard to smear and discredit his many women accusers.”
Liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus also wrote this week that Trump was right to raise the issue.
“Trump has smeared women because of their looks,” Marcus wrote. “[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.”
