Former presenter has exposed a quote from former US president Bill Clinton live on CNN which could expose real relationship with
Taking to X to re-share the old clip – which dated back to 2013 at the CGI Annual Meeting in New York – Piers wrote: “This clip from an old CNN interview I did with President Clinton is worth watching again in the context of why President Trump believes he can trust Putin when it comes to personal assurances, and why he may be reluctant to attack him in public.”
In the video, Clinton was discussing Putin, with Piers questioning him: “If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true. Can we really believe that with his own self-interest for , is orchestrating this huge manoeuvre to remove all of al-Assad’s chemical weapons [from Syria] and that’s just going to happen?”
Clinton responded: “No, we don’t have to believe it. We just have to see what happens and make the most of what happens. You work for the best and prepare for the worst in this business, but I think it would be a terrible mistake not to take advantage of the opportunity.
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Bill Clinton discussed Vladimir Putin (Image: CNN)
“Look, Mr Putin, he’s very smart,” Clinton added, as Piers commented: “You know him better than most people. What was he like behind closed doors, away from the public utterances?”
Clinton described him as “smart and remarkably… we had a really good, blunt relationship. Brutally blunt. I think the right strategy most of the time… you should be brutally honest with people in private. And then if you want them to help you, avoid embarrassing them in public.
Bill Clinton said he was ‘blunt’ with people in private (Image: CNN)
“Now sometimes they do things that make it impossible for you to keep quiet, but by and large I found all the people I dealt with appreciated it if I told you them the truth. They also appreciated it when I didn’t kick them around in public for as long as I couldn’t kick them around.”
Fans were quick to agree with Piers, with one writing: “Exactly. You don’t publicly insult a counterparty when you are trying to have negotiations. Doing so means you never intended to negotiate in the first place. Kind of like what Zelensky did in the White House.”
Another posted: “Do I miss right now a US president of the vision, diplomatic skills, intellect, storytelling capability and empathy like Bill Clinton.” While another mused: “This is exactly what President Trump is doing. Let’s let the president have a go at getting a peace deal. You can bet number 1 for Putin is his own personal safety. Am I correct?”