Donald Trump has accomplished another great feat in his quest to troll his way to the White House, with the release of a new Web video touting the endorsement of… Bill Clinton?
Trump has already pioneered a number of unusual techniques for a GOP candidate, including running against Jeb Bush by attacking his brother, George W. And now, after smearing the record of a former Republican president, he’s claiming the support of a former Democratic one. It all makes sense as a piece of performance art — if nothing else — and it may impress voters just with the sheer nerve of it.
In a video captioned “Bill Clinton wants to #MakeAmericaGreatAgain” posted on Trump’s Instagram account, clips of Bill seemingly praising Trump are pieced together and set to the upbeat, patriotic music often heard in campaign ads. Clinton can be seen saying: “He’s a master brander…and he’s the most interesting character out there. There’s a macho appeal to saying, ‘I’m just sick of nothing happening. I make things happen, vote for me’… and I like him.”
The on-screen-text declares: “THANKS, BILL!!!!!”
Bill Clinton wants to #MakeAmericaGreatAgain
A video posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on
So how did Trump’s people pull off this masterpiece of proud, comically deceptive editing?
As a quick example, here is one of those clips from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — in which the host asked Bill to explain Trump’s appeal to a frustrated and disaffected electorate.
In that same interview, Bill also laughed off those pesky rumors that he’d encouraged The Donald to get into the race in order to make trouble for the Republicans: “I get credit for doing a lot of things I didn’t do, like that.”
And now thanks to Trump’s campaign, Bill Clinton has got credit for something else he hasn’t done.
Photo: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Norcross, Georgia, October 10, 2015. REUTERS/Tami Chappell
