Campaigning for Hillary Clinton who is currently recovering from walking pneumonia off the campaign trail, Bill Clinton spoke with Charlie Rose on “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday.
During his interview, Clinton spoke of the role of populism in modern politics, explaining that both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders relied upon the extremes of populism to spur their campaign.
The president framed the idea of a populist movement in a very negative light, saying that a former populist movement – the Know-Nothing movement – gave birth to the Klan. He then went on to explain that at least his wife’s former opponent was a more “positive populist.” By contrast, Trump’s campaign is “negative populism.”
“The Know-Nothing movement was a populist movement. You know, it was, basically gave birth to the Klan and all that. But it was a populist movement. . . .throw the rascals out and play on popular passions.”
“But Bernie Sanders, I think, was a much more positive populist. That is, he wanted to do things. He had an affirmative agenda. And so did Hillary, and they argued about which one’s was better.”
We get it, Bill. You don’t like the scrappy old man who tried to keep your partner out of the White House and threatened to end your long-lasting dream of crawling your way back into the Oval Office. But you don’t get to tersely tie Bernie Sanders’ movement to the same sort of rabid affiliation which sprouted the KKK, and you don’t get to tentatively suggest that Sanders and Trump have something more than old age in common.
We remember the harsh words you had for Bernie and his millennial supporters just a few months ago. You might be trying to bank on your long-held popularity, but it is becoming increasingly clear that young Democrats are just not as fond of your creepy uncle vibe.
