Bill Clinton's Advice To Trump? Pass Gun Control

 

Right now, President Donald Trump is dealing with an impeachment inquiry in the House. There’s one living former president who knows what that’s like. Former President Bill Clinton had his turn with that back in the day, so he knows a thing or two about what that must feel like.

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In this time, the idea of Clinton offering some advice to Trump shouldn’t be surprising.

Nor should it be surprising that the advice has nothing to do with impeachment and everything to do with gun-grabbing.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday for its coverage of the Saugus High School shooting in Santa Clarita, California. As Donald Trump faces an impeachment probe and Republicans continue to resist calls for gun control, Clinton suggested that the president focus on the latter, Breitbart reports.

Clinton highlighted that the Republican-controlled House impeached him in 1998 and pointed to the work done in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

“We had very productive actions in all three years,” he said, adding that the only “really tough year” for his administration in the wake of Republicans taking Congress was in 1995 to the beginning of 1996 when the GOP shut down the government twice.

“Once the public rendered judgment on what they thought should be done, I kept working with them. That’s just an excuse,” Clinton said.

The 73-year-old politician was asked if he had a message for Trump, to which he said the president was “hired to do a job.”

Clinton highlighted that Trump indicated a couple of times he would go along with gun control, but Clinton suggested that the gun lobby “pulled him back.” Regardless, Clinton indicated that right now, Congress is “basically in denial” of the effects of avoiding gun control. He added that if Congress doesn’t want to pass an assault weapons ban and ammunition limit, the least they should do is provide a “clean background check law” that is applicable to the modern world and harnesses “information technology.”

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Of course, it should also be of interest to note that when Republicans worked with Clinton to pass a gun control bill, it triggered a bloodbath in Congress that saw several Republicans lose in the primary and flipped Congress out of GOP control. [This bit was corrected from an earlier version.]

That’s because of one simple fact that Clinton failed to acknowledge and that’s how gun control is rarely a deciding issue for its proponents. While they may prefer a candidate that is strong on gun control, it’s not the issue that’s going to motivate them. After all, if that weren’t the case. Rep. Eric “Nuke ’em All” Swalwell and Beto “Take ’em All” O’Rourke would still be in the race.

And this is during the Democratic primary.

If the greatest proponents of gun control can’t get ahead during the party’s primary, then just how in the hell is that supposed to be a winning issue in November? Frankly, it’s not.

Yet by failing to acknowledge this fact, Clinton is failing to acknowledge that there’s little reason for Trump to support gun control. That’s especially true when it will alienate supporters that he’ll need during the general election.

It doesn’t help that Democrats opted to proceed with impeachment with what is turning out to be laughable evidence. That scuttled any desire Trump might have had to proceed with gun control.

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The most hilarious thing in this is that Democrats seem to have been genuinely shocked that Trump wouldn’t continue alienating his own base just to work with them on something like this while they’re in the process of trying to remove him from office.

So no, I don’t think Trump should pass gun control, and not just because I’m morally opposed to gun control on general principle.

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