Bill Clinton is planning to vote for Hillary. Or, as he put it, "the lady I saw singing on Saturday Night Live." The former president and perhaps future first husband went on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night to talk about his wife's candidacy, Bernie Sanders, and, of course, Donald Trump.
"He's a master brander and he's the most interesting character out there," Clinton told Colbert when asked about Donald Trump's dumfounding success. He pointed to the first GOP debate, saying there's a "macho appeal" to Trump's simple message of confidence and competence.
Colbert invoked Clinton's nickname (given to him by Obama) as the "Secretary of Explaining Stuff," to ask him to explain the appeal of Trump, Sanders and, then, one of our favorite conspiracies. It's the idea that the Clintons (who were friends with Trump at one point) asked him to run —so he'd spoil the serious GOP field and make it easier for Hillary.
"I get credit for doing a lot of things I didn't do, like that," Clinton said, laughing. He admitted that, after a bout of phone tag, he and Trump chatted prior to The Donald announcing his candidacy.
"We had a very pleasant conversation, but it wasn't about running for office," Clinton said. "So I missed a chance."
On Senator Bernie Sanders — Hillary's biggest opponent on the Democratic side — Clinton was half-complimentary. He first said that Sanders' message that the system was rigged against ordinary people towards the very rich was really resonating. But then also suggested Sanders' campaign was something of a tactic. "Republicans have been rewarded for moving further to the right," he said, so a lot of people think "the Democrats will be even more effective if they move further to the left."
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