A new documentary claims Barack Obama referred to Donald Trump as a “fascist” in a phone call with Hillary Clinton’s Democratic mate during the 2016 presidential election, NBC, which was given access to the series a bit ahead of the official release, reported.
The exchange was recounted by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who ran alongside Clinton, during a 2016 meeting with Clinton that was caught on camera, with Kaine’s wife, Anne Holton, also present.
"President Obama called me last night and said: 'Tim, remember, this is no time to be a purist. You've got to keep a fascist out of the White House,'" Kaine says before adding, tongue-in-cheek, that Obama "knows me and he knows that I could tend to err".
Clinton, the edition noted, can be seen nodding in agreement and dropping: “I echo that sentiment".
"But that's really — the weight of our responsibility is so huge", she then acknowledges, with her hands on her chest.
The docu director, Nanette Burstein, confirmed to NBC that the clip of Kaine was recorded by a camera team hired by the Clinton campaign, with both the date and location of the meeting still unclear.
According to the edition, Obama’s communications director declined to comment about the documentary and the phone call referenced in it, while Kaine and Clinton didn’t immediately respond to respective requests.
The clip is a tiny episode of “Hillary", a four-part documentary series about Clinton’s early life, private life, and political career that comes out in March but premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday. Clinton herself had also been scheduled to attend the screening, NBC noted.
The series has already made headlines, as earlier this week, the Hollywood Reporter said the production features clips of Clinton attacking Bernie Sanders, her foe in the 2016 Democratic primaries.
"He was in Congress for years", Clinton said, the documentary claims. "He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it".