A new book alleges that former President Bill Clinton once gave a negative assessment of his wife's political skills following her failed 2016 campaign. 

According to the New York Post, that claim is put forward by author Ryan Grim in "The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution."

"Could not sell p--y on a troop train"

"Former President Bill Clinton, surveying the landscape and the ham-handed efforts at identity politics was bereft, lamenting to a longtime friend in the fall of 2016 that Hillary’s campaign 'could not sell p---y on a troop train,'" Grim wrote.

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign ‘could not sell p—y on a troop train,’ husband Bill lamented according to new book https://t.co/EeX0dh5wdw pic.twitter.com/dLwIzsgwnn

— New York Post (@nypost) December 14, 2023

The Daily Wire noted that the former president was not alone in slamming his wife's approach to campaigning, as other Democrats were critical as well.

At issue was the perception that Mrs. Clinton put too much focus on identity politics as she fought off Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary race.

James Carville doesn't "know anyone who speaks" like Democratic activists

"To the extent that the campaign tactic moved the needle at all, it likely pushed moderate voters paying only marginal attention to the campaign towards Sanders, who spoke like a normal person while Clinton began ascending into what her ally James Carville would later call, 'faculty lounge speak,'" Grim explained.

Indeed, Carville raised the complaint in a 2021 interview with Vox, saying, "You ever get the sense that people in faculty lounges in fancy colleges use a different language than ordinary people?"

"They come up with a word like 'Latinx' that no one else uses. Or they use a phrase like 'communities of color,'" the longtime Democratic operative continued.

"I don’t know anyone who speaks like that. I don’t know anyone who lives in a ‘community of color.’ I know lots of white and black and brown people and they all live in … neighborhoods," Carville insisted.

He went on to stress that "this is not how people talk. This is not how voters talk. And doing it anyway is a signal that you’re talking one language and the people you want to vote for you are speaking another language."

Mrs. Clinton will be a "key player" in Biden's campaign

The revelations from Grim's book come even as NBC News reported this week that Mrs. Clinton is being brought onboard as a "key player" in President Joe Biden's re-election efforts.

She’s with him: Hillary Clinton steps out as a key player in Biden’s re-election effort
w/ @jonallendc and @megan_lebowitz https://t.co/1CNyaMMeoH via @nbcnews

— Peter Nicholas (@Petereporter) December 10, 2023

An unnamed Democratic strategist was quoted as telling NBC News, "At the end of the day, Biden needs all the help that he can get. What he needs is both the spirit and the actual reality of unity."