Donald Trump now trains his guns on Bill Clinton

Ramping up his attacks against Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump has now trained his guns on her husband, former President Bill Clinton. But the Clinton campaign is pushing back.

The former Democratic president has a "terrible record of women abuse", the Republican front-runner Trump tweeted Monday.

"If Hillary thinks she can unleash her husband, with his terrible record of women abuse, while playing the women's card on me, she's wrong!"

Pushing back Clinton campaign, spokesperson Christina Reynolds said Monday, "Hillary Clinton won't be bullied or distracted by attacks he throws at her and former President Clinton."

Trump's attacks come after Hillary Clinton announced her husband will hit the campaign trail for her in January.

Co-opting the words Clinton used against him during an interview with a newspaper, Trump tweeted: Hillary Clinton has announced that she is letting her husband out to campaign but HE'S DEMONSTRATED A PENCHANT FOR SEXISM, so inappropriate!

In an interview last week, asked about Trump's use of a vulgar Yiddish word (schlonged) to describe her loss to Barack Obama in the 2008 election, Clinton said: "It's not the first time he's demonstrated a penchant for sexism."

Trump next day tweeted a warning to the former secretary of state to "be careful!"

"Hillary, when you complain about 'a penchant for sexism', who are you referring to. I have great respect for women. BE CAREFUL!"

Trump also told Fox News on Sunday that 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."

During the interview, Trump also argued that Clinton is "playing the woman's card."

Meanwhile, using words like "low life", "useless" and "sleazebag", Trump lashed out Monday night at the publisher of New Hampshire's largest newspaper for comparing him to a movie bad-guy and for endorsing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

The attack, according to the Washington Post, came after the New Hampshire Union Leader published a front-page editorial that compared Trump to "Biff", the lead antagonist from the "Back to the Future" movies and described him as "a crude blowhard with no clear political philosophy".

Addressing a rally in Ashua, New Hampshire, Trump on Monday called publisher Joseph W. McQuaid "Christie's lap dog" -- a reference to the editorial board's endorsement of Christie last month.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)