A new book claims that former U.S. President Bill Clinton was so unimpressed with President Barack Obama, he urged his wife Hillary Clinton to quit her job as U.S. secretary of state and run against him in the primaries last summer -- calling the president "amateur" and "incompetent."
The New York Post published excerpts of best-selling andcontroversial author Edward Klein's unauthorized biography about Obama coming out Monday, "The Amateur," which includes bombshell revelations about the former president's alleged true feelings about Obama.
Reporter Carl Campanile writes that Bill Clinton "unloaded on Obama and pressed Hillary to run against her boss during a gathering in the ex-president's home office in Chappaqua last August that included longtime friends," according to Klein.
"The economy's a mess, it's dead flat. America has lost its Triple-A rating ... You know better than Obama does," Bill Clinton is quoted as saying in the book.
Bill Clinton reportedly continued to say that he had "no relationship" with Obama, who "doesn't know how to be president" and is "incompetent."
Klein based the conversation on interviews with two guests that were present for the Chappaqua meeting. According to those two sources,Hillary Clinton resisted her husband's plea. The New York Post writes:
"Why risk everything now?" a skeptical Hillary told her husband, emphasizing that she wanted to leave a legacy as secretary of state.
"Because," Bill replied, his voice rising, "the country needs you!"
"The country needs us!" added Bill.
Hillary Clinton also questioned the prospect of loyalty, according to the excerpts:
"I'm the highest-ranking member in Obama's Cabinet. I eat breakfast with the guy every Thursday morning. What about loyalty, Bill? What about loyalty?" she responded.
"Loyalty is a joke,'' Bill shot back. "Loyalty doesn't exist in politics."
Bill's verbal battle with Hillary over the presidency, if anything, intensified when daughter Chelsea showed up with her husband, Marc Mezvinsky.
"You deserve to be president," Chelsea said.
Contributed by International Business Times