In the run-up to the 2016 election, Donald Trump repeatedly told his supporters that Hillary Clinton was a criminal and shouldn't be able to run for President. Today that is an interesting take, as Trump is now a convicted felon, and he's still running for the highest office in the land.
Many have pointed out the hypocrisy of Trump's words, and the Republican and his allies are now trying to spin his words against Clinton. During a recent interview with Newsmax, Trump claimed that he was just joking when he talked about locking up Clinton.
When discussing his recent trial and whether Presidents should face prosecution Trump said, "Does that mean the next president does it to them? That’s really the question. You know, I said on a recent show that I did, a good show, good people, you would like these people even though they’re competitors. But you know, when I mentioned Hillary’s name, they’d all scream “Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!” And everybody got a kick out of it and all…"
Trump continued:
"And wouldn’t it be really bad like, as an example, Hillary with the hammering of her cell phones and all of the things she did, but wouldn’t it be terrible to throw the president’s wife and the former secretary of state– you think of it, the former secretary of state, but the president, the president’s wife into jail. Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing? But they want to do it. So, you know, it’s like it’s, it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to.And it’s very possible that it’s gonna have to happen to them."