Former President Bill Clinton stole the show on the campaign trail Thursday as he ridiculed Donald Trump for suggesting he would turn the U.S. military against its own people, or as Trump calls them: the “enemy from within.”
“He keeps talking about how he wants to get even and may have to call out the military on our own people,” Clinton said at a rally with Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, in Durham, North Carolina. The crowd booed.
“The ‘danger within,’” Clinton said as he scratched his head. “I suppose that includes me.”
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The crowd ate it up, erupting in laughter.
“The oath says you promise to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” Clinton continued, impersonating Trump “And he said: ‘I think I’ll start with domestic. Bring me the Army!”
The 42nd Democratic president found his stride as a comedian, continuing Trump’s imagined internal monologue.
“‘Now, I used to like President Clinton. I once said only he and Ronald Reagan were the great presidents since World War II. But I’ve had a change of heart. And I think he needs to go away for a long time. And I’m not going to execute him, although I could, under the Supreme Court’s ruling. But I think I’ll just send him to the Colorado super max for the rest of his life.”
Then came the punchline.
“‘I’ve already got a petition ready,” Clinton said. “I want him to transfer me to Guantanamo. ‘Cause when you’re 78, you’re a lot more worried about it being too cold than being too hot.”
Clinton plans to spend the weekend campaigning in eastern North Carolina as part of an early vote bus tour as the race between Harris and Trump has tightened with just two and a-half weeks before the presidency is decided. Clinton said he expects 2024 to be the last election he’ll be actively involved in, yet he remained lighthearted.
Ironically, Trump is a former friend: Both Bill and Hillary were guests at his third wedding to Melania.
Besides his Gitmo jokes, Clinton ribbed Trump, 78, for his surreal solo dance routine on stage Monday through a medley of tracks played over loudspeakers after medical emergencies derailed his town hall.
“Heck, I’m only two months younger than Donald Trump,” Clinton, also 78, said. “Good news for you is: I will not spend 30 minutes swaying back and forth to music.”
