The former secretary of state sat down with the hosts of The View on Tuesday morning to discuss her presidential campaign in the run-up to New York State’s primary on April 19.
She hit on many familiar points — women’s right to reproductive choice, the lasting effects of her email “scandal,” and the three big things that a presidential candidate should be able to provide, (which she also touched on in her rally in New York City last week). She spoke about her rivalry with Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders in the state where both candidates have been campaigning energetically over the past few weeks. She stated that despite Sanders’ challenge, she was “very proud” of the Democratic race for being run on “issues compared to insults.”
But it wasn’t all talk about the campaign trail. The hosts were also interested to find out her plans for a potential move back to the White House. Namely — what on earth will we be calling Bill?
“First Husband?” Joy Behar inquired. “First Grandpa, First Pop-Pop?” she asked, citing granddaughter Charlotte’s nickname for the former president.
“Well, we really should run kind of a contest,” Clinton joked (an idea that runs the risk of Bill Clinton being nicknamed “Saxophone McPresidentface,” or something similar).
Thankfully, Clinton seemed to have a few more dignified ideas in mind. “Some people have said First Gentleman, which, obviously, that fits.” She tallied on her fingers — “Others have said First Mate, which I thought was kind of… Others have said First Dude.”
No matter what they'll wind up calling him, though, Clinton refused to say her husband wouldn’t be part of a Hillary Clinton presidency. “I hope he would be involved,” she said, before moving forward to a discussion of the economy and the aftermath of the Great Recession.
She also addressed the perception of her as cold or "inauthentic."
“I don’t understand that,” she said. She suggested that people simply didn’t understand her personality. She called herself "a more serious person, a more reserved person" than generally seen in the political arena. But a few minutes later, she put that reserve to the side when she saw an audience member's Hillary Clinton-themed socks during a commercial break.
“Oh my gosh!” she said, clearly thrilled and entertained. “No, I’ve never seen that before,” she said when someone asked if she was aware there were socks being made with her face on them. “Do we have time later?" she asked. "I’ll get a picture with you and your socks." And indeed, about 15 minutes later, the lucky Clinton supporter, leg hiked up to show off the famous footwear, got a photo with the former Secretary.