Bill Clinton defends wife Hillary vs Donald Trump

In this Aug. 29, 2015 file photo, former President Bill Clinton speaks in New Orleans. Bill Clinton is “ready to get out there” and campaign. With his wife facing an increasingly tough primary battle, the big dog is gearing up to get into the fight. AP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON— Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that Donald Trump’s attacks on his wife are “fact-free” and that presidential candidates “shouldn’t be able to insult (their) way to the White House.”

Clinton was asked by CNN’s Erin Burnett about Trump’s claims that Hillary Rodham Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, was “perhaps the worst secretary of state in history.”

The former president responded by praising his wife’s work on Iran, nuclear proliferation and AIDS prevention and said that if Trump wins the Republican presidential nomination, “he’ll have to sort of hone his criticisms a little more finely because the facts will be easy to marshal.”

Clinton said he thought Trump and some of the other Republican candidates “believe that authenticity is created by making your campaign look as much like a reality TV show as possible.”

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He added: “As the field winnows down, I hope it will be more, get more serious. ‘Cause the American people deserve some sense of what the heck you’re going to do if you actually get the job. Because the day after you take the oath of office, you can’t level an insult or have a — you’re not in an episode of ‘Survivor.’ You’re actually supposed to show up and run the show.”

Clinton was also asked about the ongoing investigations into Hillary Clinton’s email use during her time in the Obama administration. “That’ll play out however it does,” he responded. “But she’s the only secretary of state in history that ever said, ‘Just release them all, all my work-related emails.’ And so far, as I said, you get the record out, I think she looks great.”

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