Bill Clinton Explains the Appeal of Donald Trump with the Perfect Backhanded Compliment


Former President Bill Clinton appeared on the Late Show on Tuesday night, where he was asked by host Stephen Colbert to explain the meteoric rises of both Sen. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

While he was quick to tout Sanders’ appeal as resonating with voter frustration that the system is “rigged against them,” Clinton actually had far more to say about his former friend Trump than he did about his wife’s increasingly formidable challenger from Vermont.

“He’s a master brander and he’s the most interesting character out there,” Clinton said of Trump. “And because he said something that overrides the ideological differences.”

“There is a macho appeal to saying, ‘I’m just sick of nothing happening. I’m going to make things happen. Vote for me,'” he added.

This is the second time Clinton has called out Trump for running a political campaign based on branding. Just last week, he hit back at Trump’s insults describing his wife’s tenure as secretary of state as the very “worst in history.”

“Well the thing about branding is, you don’t have to be—you can be fact-free,” Clinton told CNN‘s Erin Burnett.

On Tuesday, Clinton also shut down a previous report citing his influence on Trump making a run for the White House. Watch above.

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