Bill Clinton slams Congress for letting Trump turn White House into 'Liberace's bathroom'
The former president hit out at Congress for not stepping in sooner to stop Donald Trump from demolishing the White House rose garden as part of his renovation project
Former President Bill Clinton hit out at Donald Trump’s makeover of one specific part of the White House.
Clinton torched Trump this week over a number of things, including his handling of Ukraine, making enemies out of the U.S.’ longest and closest allies, and his employment of ICE. The former president made his first appearance of the midterm campaign on Tuesday, and spoke for half an hour about Trump’s shortcomings.
Clinton, who has long been critical of Trump’s changes to the historic White House, took things a step further, saying that he believes Congress should have stepped in to stop him making some irreversible mistakes.
"I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace's bathroom,” he said, as the crowd erupted into laughter.
Both Bill and Hillary Clinton have spoken out about Trump’s massive renovation project. Hillary criticized Trump’s decorations, calling them "tacky," and made her own comparison of the gold furnishings to Saddam Hussein's palaces.
Trump’s former opponent in the 2016 presidential election, said during an interview that the White House "belongs to the public rather than to the president personally.”
Before and after pictures of the Rose Garden put into perspective Trump’s massive overhaul of the historic grounds. The photos showed the center of the lawn covered in plain-white, square pavement.
Trump indicated last March that he intended to transform the garden into something more akin to a presidential patio.
“You know, we use [the Rose Garden] for press conferences, and it doesn’t work because the people fall,” he told Fox News' Laura Ingraham. "The terrain can be wet, and the soft ground can be an issue for some... Women, with the high heels, it just didn’t work.”
Later footage of the garden showed that it had been decorated with white tables, with gold umbrellas, which immediately prompted the public to label it “tacky.” Many social media users accused the president of giving the historic grounds the “Mar-a-lago makeover.”
Perhaps his most talked-about project, the White House ballroom has completely replaced the pre-existing East Wing.
Trump’s fixation on the ballroom has become a key feature of his second term in office. He has repeatedly stressed the necessity of the space for hosting high-profile guests, and later rebranded it in the media as a large-scale security and military facility.