Donald Trump ramps up attacks on Clintons, tweets about Bill's 'women abuse'

NEW YORK -- All wasn't peaceful and quiet over the holidays, at least not as far as Donald Trump is concerned. The Republican presidential front-runner ramped up his attacks against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton[/url] and is now turning his attention to her husband, former President Bill Clinton.[br /][br /]The former Democratic president has a "terrible record of women abuse," Trump tweeted this morning, without elaborating on exactly what abuse he was referring to.[br /][br /]Trump's attacks come after Hillary Clinton announced her husband will hit the campaign trail for her in January.[br /][Ads /][br /]In the Dec. 22 interview with the Des Moines Register, Clinton did not offer a direct response to Trump's use of a vulgar Yiddish word to describe her loss to Obama in the 2008 election, but said she deplores Trump's "inflammatory rhetoric." Trump has defended his use of the word as a common term in politics.[br /][br /]Asked whether Trump's comments have to do with her gender, Clinton said: "I think he has to answer for what he says, and I assume that others will make the larger point about his language. It's not the first time he's demonstrated a penchant for sexism."[br /][br /]Trump tweeted the next day, warning the former secretary of state to "be careful!"[br /][br /]In a phone interview Sunday with Fox News, Trump said Bill Clinton is "fair game" because his presidency was "very troubled, to put it mildly, because of all the things she's talking to me about."[br /][br /]During the interview, Trump also argued that Clinton is "playing the woman's card."[br /][br /]Representatives for Bill and Hillary Clinton did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment.[br /][br /]The only other female candidate in the 2016 race, Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, also called Bill Clinton "fair game" in an interview with Fox News Monday morning. But she cautioned, "you're not going to beat Hillary Clinton by attacking Bill Clinton," adding, "The way to deal with the woman card is attack her track record."[br /][br /]The Clinton-Trump feud appears to be escalating as the calendar turns to 2016, but it wasn't always that way.[br /][br /]It was revealed that Bill Clinton and Trump spoke before Trump announced his candidacy for president in August. The former president reportedly told Trump, according to aides, that he could have a big impact in the GOP race. The Clintons were also guests at Trump's wedding to model Melania Knauss in 2005.[br /][br /]