Bill Clinton says US needs presidential candidate who is 'willing to lose'
Speaking about his new book 'The First Gentleman' to Dearbhail McDonald on RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor show, he said a presidential candidate needs to show they are going to "lift our country out of the mire".
"I think there is a significant majority of people who would support such an approach if they actually believed in the candidate and if you were effective enough to push back against the blizzard of misinformation that is in social media, the mainstream media and the endless array of new social media sites coming online," he said.
"We're in a blizzard of information with limited ability for many people to sort through it and know what to believe and what not."
Mr Clinton said that after the most recent US election, he believes many of the Democratic Party's leaders and would-be leaders "conducted themselves responsibly" but that voters and activists have continued to fight.
"Especially since President Trump is so unlike his predecessors in his willingness to break rules and norms and take on courts and everybody else," he added.
Mr Clinton said it is important to recognise that if a candidate does not have the votes to win a presidential race, they should focus on developing an alternative message and hope to win the next election.
"I think we forget, the people who are so politically active, that people aren't paying attention.
"They're making judgements and you have to trust the people to do this and then carve a path through to push what you believe in, but don't pretend that it's the next election.
"I did not even announce for president until October of 1991, barely a year away.
"Now we expect people to run from four straight years and we expect voters not to get bored because the media has got to fill all these days with news."
Mr Clinton's book was co-authored by James Patterson - their third novel together - and revolves around a man named Cole who is facing murder charges while his wife is seeking re-election as president of the US.
He said being a 'first gentleman' was the "only political job that I failed to secure".
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