On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has consistently decried Hillary Clinton’s two terms as U.S. senator and tenure as secretary of state as disasters, and the candidate herself as “Crooked Hillary.”
However, Trump in 2008 had nothing but praise for her and for Bill Clinton’s presidency.
On Monday afternoon, CNN’s KFile unearthed a 2008 Trump interview with New York local cable channel NY1, which can be watched on NY1’s website.
Trump talked with Dominic Carter about Hillary’s tough primary battle with Barack Obama and her legacy as senator, as well as Bill’s legacy as President.
“I think that she’s a wonderful woman,” Trump said. “I think that she’s a little bit misunderstood. You know, Hillary’s a very smart woman, very tough women, that’s fine. She’s also a very nice person. And I know Hillary and I know her husband very well. They’re fine people.”
When Carter asked Trump how he thought Hillary would go down in history, Trump said, “Well I think her history is far from being over, I’d like to answer that question another 15 years from now.
“I think she’s going to go down at a minimum as a great senator. I think that she is a great wife to a president, and I think Bill Clinton was a great president. You know, you look at the country then, the economy was doing great, look at what happened during the Clinton years: I mean, we had no war, the economy was doing great, everybody was happy, a lot of people hated him because they were jealous as hell … A lot of people don’t like him because they’re jealous of him.”
This is a far cry from what viewers tuning into tonight’s third and final presidential debate are likely to see.
Hillary is the most corrupt person to ever run for the presidency of the United States. #DrainTheSwamp pic.twitter.com/xA3YO8YzCq
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2016
