Tuesday night, former President Bill Clinton gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and denounced President Trump’s conduct in the Oval Office, ignoring his own conduct.
After Republicans trolled the DNC on Twitter by noting Bill Clinton’s sexual relations with an intern in the White House, as well as his alleged relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, a CNN panel defended the former president’s appearance with an appeal to redemption.
Speaking with Van Jones and Jennifer Granholm, Scott Jennings, a former George W. Bush White House official, questioned why Bill Clinton has not yet been canceled given his proven improprieties, as well as the serious allegations against him.
“I am dumbfounded by this. How is it that Bill Clinton has not been canceled by the Democratic – how has he survived all of these waves of cancellations when he has been one of the biggest violators of these rules all these years?” Jennings asked, as reported by Fox News.
“We believe in redemption, brother,” Jones responded.
“We talked about the use of character to try to say, ‘Donald Trump is a man of lower character [than] Joe Biden’ … he’s fair game. That’s totally fine,” Jennings continued. “So you’re gonna say that in one breath and then say, ‘Character matters. Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Clinton!’ I mean, does this make sense to anyone? If you want Republicans to vote for Joe Biden, having Bill Clinton talk about character and not having drama in the Oval Office – is that the right answer?”
Jones said that the former president “acknowledged his wrongdoing” and “apologized.”
“I don’t think we have to say everything that Bill Clinton has done is great, but I do think that when he has made mistakes, he’s acknowledged them, and I admire him for that,” Jones said.
.@ScottJenningsKY: How is it that Bill Clinton has not been canceled…when he’s been one of the biggest violators of these rules all these years.
.@JenGranholm: How far back are we going to go relitigate this? This has already been asked and answered decades ago. pic.twitter.com/01mhdHUnqq
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 19, 2020
During Clinton’s five-minute pre-taped speech, which was not aired during prime time, the former president also criticized President Trump for his COVID-19 response.
“We have just 4 percent of the world’s population, [but] 25 percent of the world’s COVID cases,” Clinton said.
“Our unemployment rate is more than twice as high as South Korea’s, two and a half times the United Kingdom’s, more than three times Japan’s,” he added. “Donald Trump says we’re leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate tripled.”
Chris Wallace of Fox News went as far to argue that Clinton’s speech was a “cogent argument.”
“It was only five minutes. As I say, it was pre-taped. But I thought he made a more cogent argument about how Donald Trump has mishandled the coronavirus than any I’ve heard from anybody,” said the news anchor.
Republicans and conservatives were not as enthusiastic, and mercilessly trolled the DNC for including Clinton on its roster of speakers.
“The irony of Bill Clinton talking about the sanctity of the Oval Office should not be lost on anyone!” tweeted Donald Trump Jr.
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