James Carville, the architect of President Bill Clinton’s 1992 victory over President George H.W. Bush and industrialist H. Ross Perot, said this week that President Donald Trump has forced him to break with the catchphrase that many believe helped win that election and made him a political household name.
Carville originally coined “It’s the economy, stupid,” as an internal reminder to campaign staff at Clinton’s Little Rock headquarters to stay on-message amid Bush’s rising approval ratings connected to his handling of the Gulf War.
But this week, Carville suggested allegations of corruption involving President Donald Trump have supplanted the idea that the economy should remain top of mind during election season.
During a discussion on his “Politicon” podcast network, former Mount Holyoke dean Joseph Ellis mentioned “It’s the economy, stupid” before the Ragin Cajun cut him off.
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“So, professor, I thought about that recently – about ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ – it’s a great catchphrase. It’s maybe one of the most oft-repeated things in politics,” Carville said.
“I now have come to detest the fact I said that.”
Without mentioning Trump by name, Carville — who has repeatedly accused the incumbent of corruption in recent months — compared him with the more genteel Bush.
“I’ll listen to people who say, ‘people don’t care about corruption, they care about the economy — As long as their incomes are up, they don’t care what he does’ – and I’m afraid that’s right.”
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“But I said it in 1992, and say what you want about George H.W. Bush, he was not… a corrupt man at all; decent man too. We have now the breathtaking, staggering — I understand if people say, ‘Yeah, you know, you’re right, that’s all people care about is the economy, and I won’t do it, I don’t say anything, I’m nice’,” he said, appearing to envision voters preferring to focus on the economy over other personality issues.
“I want to punch him in the f—ing face. OK? Yes. I’m serious… Because the phrase actually haunts me today.”
Asked about the invective, White House spokesman Davis Ingle called the Ragin’ Cajun a “stone-cold loser.”
“[Carville] suffers from a severe and incurable disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome, and it has rotted his peanut-sized brain,” Ingle said.
During an earlier discussion with his co-host, former Wall Street Journal Washington bureau chief Al Hunt, Carville said that “we are drowning; we’re suffocating in corruption” before accusing Trump of increasing his net worth by $2 billion since becoming president.
“I’m just really fearful for the United States,” he added.
In February, Carville directed one of his segments at Trump as though the president were watching, telling the president that his inner circle “hates” him and that he is a “fat, sorry, sack of s—.”
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Since then, he has continued criticizing the president and recently said he is proud to have proverbial “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Carville has been a mainstay in Democratic politics ever since helping engineer Clinton’s 1992 victory, alongside other notable campaign aides, including ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, whom Trump also spars with on occasion.
Clinton’s 1992 campaign produced several enduring touchstones, from Carville’s “It’s the economy, stupid,” to Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 hit “Don’t Stop,” which became the de facto theme song for his successful bid.
Carville’s comments about his old slogan also come as he recently rebuked socialist nominees taking over his party.
Fox News Digital reached out to Carville via his Politicon podcast for further comment.
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