AFP
Donald Trump made the seemingly audacious suggestion that Hillary Clinton was somehow responsible for Bill Clinton's infidelities. Trump called her an "enabler" and said she "attacked the women who Bill Clinton mistreated afterward."
The comment was designed to get attention. Mrs Clinton has been a champion of family issues and women's rights throughout her career, so the idea that she was the enabler of someone Mr Trump has called "the greatest abuser of women in the history of politics," appeared outrageous.
And yet, something resonated in Mr Trump's description of Hillary. There was a kernel of truth to his claim and now it is hurting Mrs Clinton with young female voters.
The New York Times today has a long article outlining Mrs Clinton's role in the political handling of her husband's sexual affairs. It's pretty damning, and for Clinton's supporters it must make unpleasant reading.
Anyone with an iota of empathy, of course, sympathises with what Hillary Clinton went through during the Lewinsky scandal. I was here and covered the story. It was grim, and the image of Chelsea steadfastly holding both parents hands as they walked, heads slightly bowed, to the helicopter on their way to that summer holiday in Martha's Vineyard will stick with me as one of the more poignant family portraits ever taken.
The Clintons hired a famous private investigator to dig up the women's pasts with the aim of destroying their reputations. It is not clear from the Times' reporting to what degree Mrs Clinton favoured this tough approach.
Did she drive it or just give it an accepting nod? Maybe the more relevant point is that she condoned it. Hillary also famously called Ms Lewinsky a "narcissistic loony toon," according to a friend's testimony. A staff member who was close to Hillary said she referred to Mr Clinton's affairs as "bimbo eruptions".
And there's the problem for young women voters.
Why should the character or the sexual past of these women be relevant to the truthfulness of their claims? Indeed, Mr Clinton went on to confess to affairs with both Ms Flowers and Ms Lewinsky, after initially denying them.
By discrediting the women, the Clintons were spreading the subliminal message that it was somehow their fault more than Bill's. What were they trying to prove - that he was led astray by sexual predators? In 2016 that sounds grotesque.
