Former President Bill Clinton believes that President Donald Trump will face consequences from those who believe his actions during the presidency have been un-American.
In an interview with CBS News “Sunday Morning,” Clinton slammed Trump for rallying against the rule of law, and said the courts — including judges who he appointed — have limited his power. His criticism comes as Trump lashed out last week after a federal court ruled against his sweeping tariffs, arguing that he overstepped his authority.
“We’ve never seen anything like this before in my lifetime – somebody that says, ‘Whatever I want should be the law of the land. It’s my way or the highway.’ And most Americans don’t agree with that,” Clinton said.
“But I like to think that he’s paid a price for this, you know, name-calling and throwing his weight around… I think it’s made him less popular,” he continued.
But while Clinton said that while the courts are “getting their dander up,” he noted that elections are the path for creating substantial change — and that Democrats need to turn their attention to winning this year’s gubernatorial races at the state level, and winning back the House next year at the national level.
“He is looking for ways to basically defy all these court orders,” Clinton said. “But I think he’ll have a hard time doing that. And if he does, I think it will hurt him in America.”
When asked if the Democratic Party could only agree on their antipathy against Trump, Clinton said he doesn’t think that is the case.
“I just think that most people don’t have any idea — most people who are criticizing the Democrats right now —have no idea how difficult it is to decide the right thing to do. I think it’s not as easy as people think,” he said. “That will come. Elections will happen, and we will see.”
While he said the courts are “doing their jobs” and elections are upcoming, he emphasized the need for someone to stand up and say “what we have in common matters more.”
“We cannot throw the legacy of this country away,” Clinton said emotionally. “We cannot destroy other people’s trust in us. We need to preserve that and find a way to work together, and not humiliate other people just so we can win.’ We got to just calm down and try to pull people together again.”
Clinton’s remarks come as his wife and Trump’s ex-rival, Hillary Clinton, has made headlines in recent weeks for criticizing the president, over the Qatar jet, the GOP budget bill and floating a run for a third term.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.