"[Bernie Sanders] wanted to do things. He had an affirmative agenda. And so did Hillary," Bill Clinton says. | AP Photo Bill Clinton: Bernie Sanders a 'much more positive populist' than Trump

The Democratic Party ought to be more populist than it was under him as president nearly two decades ago, former President Bill Clinton said, arguing that the sort of populism that has animated Donald Trump's campaign is very different from that which energized Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.

Attempting to explain why he believed that to be the case to Charlie Rose in an excerpt aired Tuesday on "CBS This Morning," the former president laid out his case as one between "positive populism" and "negative populism."


"The Know-Nothing movement was a populist movement. You know, it was, basically gave birth to the Klan and all that. But it was a populist movement," Clinton said, as Rose remarked that, "in part, populist says, 'throw the rascals out.'"

Clinton responded, "Yeah, throw the rascals out and play on popular passions."

“But Bernie Sanders, I think, was a much more positive populist," Clinton said. "That is, he wanted to do things. He had an affirmative agenda. And so did Hillary, and they argued about which one’s was better.”

Asked why his wife's current race against Trump is "so close," Clinton threw out a multi-part answer.

"Partly because of the time we live in. Partly because it's hard for any party to win a third term," he said. "Partly because of the designed clamor every day which doesn't allow people to really — I hope the debates will cure this — to make a judgment — if you look at what she's advocated and what he's advocated — she's advocating positive change. How do you build on the good things that have been done in the Obama years that go well beyond it. He's advocating a return to trickle-down economics on steroids which got us in trouble in the first place."