labelling Donald Trump a “loose cannon”, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has warned fellow-Americans that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would be a risky choice for the high office.
“I don’t think we can take a risk on a loose cannon like Donald Trump running our country. I do think he is a loose cannon, and loose cannons tend to misfire,” Clinton told CNN on Wednesday, a day after Trump became the presumptive nominee after his last two rivals crashed out of the race.
Clinton’s comments came even as Trump’s conservative detractors, who have floated the #NeverTrump movement, are still actively exploring the possibility of putting up their own candidate for a third-party run to halt the New York billionaire in his tracks.
Names of former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse and former Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn have been floated as possible candidates for a third-party or independent bid, the Associated Press reported, noting this project remains “a long shot at best, with filing deadlines for getting on state ballots fast approaching”.
In her interview, Clinton attacked Trump for having run a “negative, aggressive, bullying campaign”, saying it has all been about “insulting people, demeaning women, degrading people with disabilities, talking about keeping Muslims out of the country”.
She laughed off a question, signalling she is more than ready to take on Trump who disposed of a host of tough competitors to rise to the top of the Republican race.
“Oh, please. This is to me a classic case of a blustering, bullying guy who has knocked out of the way all the Republicans because they were just dumbfounded,” she remarked. “I’m going to keep staying on the campaign I’m running. I have more than 3 million votes over Sen. Sanders and I have 2 million votes over Trump.”
Quizzed on the possibility of Trump raking up the past and attacking her husband, former President Bill Clinton, she commented: “If he wants to go back to the playbook of the 1990s, if he wants to follow in the footsteps of those who have tried to knock me down and take me out of the political arena, I’m more than happy to have him do that.”
A couple of months ago, when Hillary Clinton attacked him over his stand on women’s issues, Trump counter-punched and called her husband “one of the great women abusers of all time”.
Hitting out at Trump’s rhetoric, Clinton said he would have to offer policy specifics in the run-up to the November 8 election. “He makes these grand statements and grand accusations,” she said, remarking: “At some point when you’re running for president, you actually have to put a little meat on the bones.”