Gennifer Flowers, who revealed a sexual relationship with Bill Clinton in the 1990s, will reportedly accept Donald Trump's invitation to attend the first presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton. Flowers's assistant confirmed the decision to BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski Saturday afternoon.
Wow! Gennifer Flowers has agreed to join Trump for the debate. Her assistant tells me.
— andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) September 24, 2016
The decision was the latest play in a bizarre bit of gamesmanship between the Clinton and Trump campaigns over the debate. Clinton's camp confirmed this week that they would invite billionaire mogul Mark Cuban, a Trump antagonist, to the debate.
Just got a front row seat to watch @HillaryClinton overwhelm @realDonaldTrump at the "Humbling at Hofstra" on Monday. It Is On !
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 23, 2016
The two billionaires, who have both been reality show stars and larger-than-life personas, have feuded regularly in recent years. At a July campaign stop for Clinton, Cuban called Trump "bats--- crazy."
On Saturday, he taunted Trump on Twitter:
Donald. Remember when you told me on the phone we were "Bobbsie Twins" and I laughed ? #truestory https://t.co/m8y4K2DK87
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 24, 2016
And Trump tweeted that he might invite Flowers -- first in a tweet that misspelled her name as "Jennifer," which was deleted within minutes, quickly followed by a repeat. Both tweets also mentioned Cuban's "Apprentice"-like TV show which was canceled in 2004.
If dopey Mark Cuban of failed Benefactor fame wants to sit in the front row, perhaps I will put Gennifer Flowers right alongside of him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2016
Shortly after, Buzzfeed confirmed that she had accepted the invitation -- however, several hours later, the Trump campaign still had yet to respond with a confirmation that Trump actually planned to bring Flowers to the Monday debate.
Flowers said during Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign that the two of them had engaged in a lengthy affair over a dozen years. The allegation, which Clinton denied at the time, threatened to ruin his campaign.
In 1998, Bill Clinton acknowledged under oath having a sexual encounter with Flowers, though he disputed details of her account.