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Published January 24, 2017
This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," December 29, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Hi, I'm Jesse Watters in for Bill O'Reilly. Thanks for watching us tonight.
Let's get right to our top story: the battle between Clintons and Donald Trump escalating to an all-out war in the race for the White House. Trump is doubling down on his claims that Bill Clinton's sex scandals are fair game and he is ratcheting up the personal attacks against the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There were certainly a lot of abuse of women and you look at whether it's Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones or many of them and that certainly will be fair game. Certainly if they play the women's card with respect to me, that will be fair game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Trump's attacks on the Clintons may actually be a part of a bigger strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I think this is not about Hillary. I think Trump is not firing off the first shot in the general election. This is all aimed at the Republican nominating process. By taking her on as the foil, he plays the presumptive Republican nominee. This is all about him rising above the other candidates on the Republican side.
It's not an engagement in a real general election campaign yet. He is using her as a foil and I must say effectively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Joining us now from Los Angeles with analysis, Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall; and with me here in New York "Boston Herald" columnist Adrianna Cohen
Leslie, let's start with you. Yes or no. Has ex President Bill Clinton abused women?
I think your silence says a lot.
LESLIE MARSHALL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No. No. I wanted to be very clear because I wanted to think about Monica. Although consensual she was young -- I wouldn't say abused; taken advantage of with Monica, yes. Abused -- no.
WATTERS: Ok. Well, here's the facts. Two women have accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault. Another woman sued Clinton for defamation because he allegedly smeared her after an affair and, you know, as you said he did prey on a young intern while at work. And he did use state troopers while in office to arrange the relationships. And then we know that he used political attack machine to go after whistle blowers, you know, the women that accused him of doing wrong things.
So, it looks like there is a track record of being very aggressive with women and then using political power to then cover it up and smear. Am I wrong?
MARSHALL: Well, first of all, I guess I missed the part where Bill Clinton is running again. I mean he has already served his two terms, his wife is running -- very different.
Secondly, I don't find this abuse of these women, two allegations and a payout don't mean that he is guilty. And when you have consenting adults in the situation, as Monica has admitted freely that she was -- that is not abusive in my opinion. And you know, I'm a feminist, I don't find that abusive.
WATTERS: Ok. I think a lot of people would disagree.
Adrianna -- do you see any negatives to Donald Trump going after Bill Clinton's past relationships with women? I see a few things. Maybe it opens him up to attacks on his personal life or, I mean what could you possibly see his negatives in doing that?
ADRIANNA COHEN, BOSTON HERALD: I think it's an opportunity for Donald Trump to highlight the hypocrisy. You know, Hillary Clinton went after Trump accusing him of sexism against women and that's the utmost of hypocrisy.
I mean look at Bill Clinton. He has an entire political career of sexual impropriety. He has been impeached I mean for this sexual harassment with Monica Lewinsky. I mean the scandals run very deep with Bill Clinton. And so she is opening up a can of worms and I think this is going to tarnish and hurt her campaign.
WATTERS: Right. Leslie -- you did say that, you know, what does Bill Clinton have to do with this? Well, Hillary, in some would say an act of desperation is sending her husband out into the campaign trail to make a case for her next week. He is going to be all over New Hampshire.
So, he is the lead surrogate. He is the politician. He is fair game. And when you have Trump doing this, you I think the base loves it. They look at this and say, wow, someone with some courage to do this. It may neutralize the war on women attacks. So, there may be more of an upside than a downside. Wouldn't you agree?
MARHALL: Oh, I don't know where to begin. How can a woman with a double digit -- how could a woman with a double digit lead over Bernie Sanders -- a sizeable lead over every, including Trump, GOP candidate be desperate -- A.
B -- Bill Clinton polls higher than every GOP candidate could be elected today even by Republicans.
And, three, Donald Trump's behavior and Bill Clinton's behavior are their behavior. Hillary Clinton's behavior is her behavior. And Donald Trump, having cheated on his first wife with his second, and now he is on his third should not be pointing fingers at any man with regard to behavior. And remarks he has made toward women, I think, speak for itself with regard to how he speaks down to women. And as a woman I do find him to have made sexist remarks in the past.
WATTERS: Well, first of all, according to the recent polling Trump and Hillary are tied. As you know and ex politicos go out and they get back into the campaign trail -- those numbers are going to go down for ex President Clinton. What would you say -- Adrianna?
COHEN: You know, Bill Clinton -- there is a big difference between cheating on your spouse and getting impeached, ok. So let's just make that difference clear. With Hillary Clinton, she claims she is for women but yet Leslie -- I'd like to ask you are you ok with her accepting millions of dollars from Gulf nations that oppress women and strip them of basic human rights? If she truly cared about women, she would return all of this unsavory cash.
MARSHALL: Well, you know, I find it interesting that we care about those donations to one female Democrat now. We have never cared about those donations to Republicans or Democrats that didn't wear a dress since pretty much since we have had a relationship with the Middle East. Many of these countries -- although I do not support the practices -- I don't support some of the practices toward treatment of women in this country, but many of the practices in these Middle Eastern countries that I have either visited or even lived in as the staff can attest, we have relationships we are building with those countries. We see changes in those countries like voting in Saudi Arabia, fighter pilots in the United Arab Emirates. We don't turn our back on that nation with relationships including financial relationships in political election years.
WATTERS: I want to get back to the main point here. Do you guys think that a part of this going after Bill Clinton's past with women? This is entertainment value. I mean if the late night guys are here they would be writing jokes about this all night. I think what Trump is doing -- people are talking about, this right? It's funny, right?
COHEN: Exactly. It's definitely going to get ratings. It's going to capture people's attention. And I think it's going to hurt Hillary. How can this benefit her when we're going to recycle -- Donald Trump is going to recycle and the media all of his sex scandals which were pretty sleazy? I mean I can't think of one American that supports Bill Clinton and his sexual history which is really up for grabs.
WATTERS: Yes, it's clear they do not want to talk about this.
Ladies -- thank you guys very much.
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