Trump slams Rubio, praises Bill Clinton

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” dedicated most of its final hour on Thursday to an interview with Donald Trump, and the new GOP presidential candidate did not hold back.

In his segment, Trump called conservative pundit George Will a “dope,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is “overrated,” and argued Democratic former President Clinton was “probably” the best of the last four presidents.

“Had he not met Monica, had he not met Paula, had he not met various and sundry semi-beautiful women, he would have had a much better deal going,” the real estate mogul said.

{mosads}Trump also claimed he had more than three times the cameras at his announcement than any other GOP politician. But Bloomberg Politics’s Mark Halperin immediately cut down that proclamation, saying the coverage was similar to Jeb Bush’s event. 

The boisterous reality TV star turned White House hopeful said that he was more qualified for president than a “dope” senator and needled President Obama by saying that if he was in charge, he wouldn’t play nearly as much golf.

“There won’t be time to go golfing all the time. Obama plays more golf than professional players on the PGA Tour,” he said, noting that the now-faltering Tiger Woods would benefit from hitting the links as much as the president.

“Tiger should play as much as Obama, he’d be doing much better.”

Trump is considered a long-shot candidate by most of the GOP establishment, but currently finishes within the top 10 of national polls, which Fox News and CNN are using as the threshold for their Republican debates. That’s led conservative commentators to pan Trump as not a serious candidate and question whether he should be included.

Trump told “Morning Joe” that he wants to “laugh” at the consideration that he shouldn’t be on the debate stage when compared to other candidates in the GOP field.

“I do a book called The Art of the Deal, it’s probably the No. 1 selling business book of all time. I go to the Wharton School of Finance, I was a good student in the hardest school there was to get into,” he said.

“And then they say, ‘Oh, he’s not qualified,’ and they take some dope who becomes a senator who’s nothing, and he’s qualified to be on the stage, but Trump isn’t qualified? Give me a break.”