Donald Trump is all in on a strategy of campaigning against Hillary Clinton by talking about things her husband did—or allegedly did—decades ago. Egged on by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump took it to the extreme in an interview that aired Wednesday:
“For example, I looked at The New York Times. Are they going to interview Juanita Broaddrick? Are they going to interview Paula Jones? Are they going to interview Kathleen Willey?” Hannity asked Trump, according to a transcript of the show. “In one case, it’s about exposure. In another case, it’s about groping and fondling and touching against a woman’s will.”
Trump replied, “And rape.”
“And rape,” Hannity repeated.
“And big settlements, massive settlements,” Trump added. “And lots of other things. And impeachment for lying.”
Again, Bill Clinton is not running for office. But dwelling on his past sure is a low, small-handed way to go after Hillary Clinton as a woman if not as a potential president. It’s an attack that won’t be new to anyone and has never much worked against Hillary, but … apparently it’s what Trump feels comfortable with.
So that’s what we can expect for the next five and a half months, even as Trump loudly insists that all the stuff he himself did, or allegedly did, in the 1990s, from posing as his own publicist to being all kinds of misogynist groper, is irrelevant old stuff.