ArcaMax

Compared to those days, Giuliani's attitude sounds as suspect as Trump's recent and sudden reversal of his five-year-old doubts that President Barack Obama was born in the United States. (It was about time, Donald.)

Even more suspect is Giuliani's tone deafness to the irony of his new position. After all, if "everybody" cheats, why make Bill Clinton cheating the focus of an attack against his wife?

Ah, but Trump and Giuliani insist they are not rehashing Bill Clinton's infidelities. Rather, they are attacking his former senator wife for defending him during the Lewinsky scandal and for her attempts to discredit women who accused her husband of sexual assault.

"After being married to Bill Clinton for 20 years, if you didn't know the moment Monica Lewinsky said Bill Clinton violated her," Giuliani told Elite Daily, a website for millennials, after the first Clinton-Trump debate, "then you're too stupid to be president."

This from a man whose own campaign to be president in 2008 flamed out after he came in third in Florida.

Perhaps Trump himself sensed the weakness of this line of attack when, during a full-steam ad-libbed tirade against his opponent at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania, Trump shouted, "I don't even think she's loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth. And really, folks, why should she be? Why should she be?"

Really? Trump offered no evidence to back up his suggestion that the former first lady might be cheating, too.

On Sunday, Giuliani the Trump surrogate dutifully dismissed Trump's suggestion of infidelity by the former First Lady as a "sarcastic remark." "After she called him a racist and misogynist, xenophobic ... I think it's fair game," Giuliani said.

Maybe. But at least Clinton actually has something that looks and sounds like evidence to back up her argument. The list of Trump's attacks and insults against Mexicans, Muslims, woman and other groups runs long and, by all indications, probably will grow longer in any minute now.

Does Trump really help himself by taking us back to Monicagate?

Sure, Hillary-bashing wins applause -- which he loves -- from his hard-core supporters, but he's already won that group. The remaining slice of moderates and independents who haven't made up their minds is small, pollsters say, but also likely to be decisive. Team Trump appears to be doing a great job -- of delivering that group to their opponent.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)

(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.