Bill Clinton can’t help himself. He really wants to live in the White House, presumably because of all the good memories he made there as president. Slick Willy is going to do whatever it takes to make sure Hillary gets elected, even if that means criticizing President Obama from time to time (or urging Donald Trump to run for president).
For example, Clinton told supporters at a rally in March that electing Hillary would allow the country to “put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us.” An aide to the former president sought to clarify his remarks, blaming Republicans for “unprecedented obstruction these last eight years.” (Note: Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congress from 2009 to 2011.)
Several days after those remarks, however, Clinton expressed a similar sentiment at a rally in New York. “The reason this election is so crazy is 87 per cent of the people haven’t had a raise since the financial crisis [in 2008],” Clinton told supporters. That might come as a surprise to President Obama, who has been touting the success of his economic record, including a lower unemployment and rising wages.
It’s not just on domestic issues where Clinton’s message has been out of sync with the White House. He doesn’t seem to be a big fan of Obama’s foreign policy, either. “Unlike when I was president,” Clinton said last week, “a lot of things are coming apart around the world now.” A true statement, obviously, but it doesn’t exactly reflect well on the president’s handling of international crises—or, for that matter, on the tenure of Obama’s former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
Bill Clinton probably isn’t doing this intentionally. His massive ego compels him to brag about how great things were when he was president and how no one else, even Obama, will ever be as good. And it’s not like he hasn’t criticized Obama before. Clinton was a rabid attack dog on Hillary’s behalf during the contentious Democratic primary in 2008.
“In theory, we could find someone who is a gifted television commentator and let them run,” Clinton said in reference to Obama in late 2007. “They’d have only one year less experience in national politics.”
Ouch.