Monica Lewinsky is now on the Trump campaign's list of talking points for surrogates to distract from his sexist statements, even though the GOP nominee initially congratulated himself about not mentioning the former White House intern on Monday night. Loosening their red power ties and sweating through their shirts, Republicans are begging the Donald to not bring up former president Bill Clinton's affair with Lewinsky in the next debate. Meanwhile, Democrats won't be offended if he does.
The Trump campaign circulated a memo on Wednesday calling on surrogates to bring up talking points about Monica Lewinsky and other Bill Clinton sex scandals, according to a CNN report.
"Mr. Trump has never treated women the way Hillary Clinton and her husband did when they actively worked to destroy Bill Clinton's accusers," the first talking point reads.
“I hope he doesn’t,” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said to Politico about Trump's possibly raising the Lewinsky matter. “He oughta stick to how he’s going to make life better for the average American worker."
During the height of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in 1998, a Gallop poll showed Hillary Clinton had high support and approval. Republicans fear that she'll get another bump in the polls if Trump digs up that history again.
Down-ticket Republicans need Trump to behave himself in the upcoming debates for the GOP to do well in November. Many Republican senators and representatives are hoping that Trump will just stick to economic issues — and avoid mentioning the woman with whom Bill cheated on Hillary.
Sen. David Perdue, R- Georgia, a Trump supporter, told Politico: "All of this [about Bill Clinton] really doesn’t matter. People back home are concerned about the economy and security issues.”
According to the same report, the second talking point reads, "Hillary Clinton bullied and smeared women like Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky."
A third point tells surrogates to deny saying they're blaming Hillary for Bill's infidelities: "She's been an active participant in trying to destroy the women who has come forward with a claim."
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