Bill Clinton Slammed For Lewinsky Interview: ‘STILL Refuses to Take Responsibility’
Former President Bill Clinton appeared on the Today show to rehash — among other things — his infamous scandal involving Monica Lewinsky in the backdrop of the #MeToo movement. Watch the full interview here.
Lewinsky, who penned an essay for Vanity Fair earlier this year, spoke out on the matter as it regards to #MeToo by writing:
“He was my boss. He was the most powerful man on the planet. He was 27 years my senior, with enough life experience to know better. He was, at the time, at the pinnacle of his career, while I was in my first job out of college. (Note to the trolls, both Democratic and Republican: none of the above excuses me for my responsibility for what happened. I meet Regret every day.)”
When Clinton was read this quote and asked to respond “through the lens of #MeToo now,” the former president defended his reputation.
“No, I felt terrible then,” Clinton said of his response to the affair at the time. “Nobody believes that I got out of that for free. I left the White House $16 million in debt. But you typically have ignored gaping facts in describing this and I bet you don’t even know them.”
He also argued that he actually supported women during his time as a public official, since he instated a sexual harassment policy and had two women chiefs of staff while governor of Arkansas.
However, pundits, journalists, and others were not impressed by Clinton’s excuses, as they took to Twitter to voice mockery, outrage, and criticism over his refusal to “take responsibility” for the incident:
Clinton says he apologized to “everyone in the world” and that he left the WH severely in debt because of the scandal. But that’s, in part, because they all lied about it for so long! https://t.co/q9PlOAv8ru
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) June 4, 2018
Clinton shrugs off the question by, among other things, touting his record as governor of Arkansas in elevating women leaders… https://t.co/sVUSpqL0RJ
— Marina Fang (@marinafang) June 4, 2018
Bill Clinton manages to make #MeToo about himself and evades @craigmelvin when asked if he ever apologized to Monica Lewinsky. Thanks @craigmelvin for asking an important and obvious question that WJC should be able to answer. https://t.co/kxEzzGYlAL
— Elise Jordan (@Elise_Jordan) June 4, 2018
Bill Clinton STILL refuses to take responsibility for what he did to Monica Lewinsky. He has the “but what about me me me me me” complex. https://t.co/yo54zHvncz
— Teri Carter (@teri_atthepaper) June 4, 2018
It’s kind of astonishing that he doesn’t have a better answer to this question by now. https://t.co/UjNutRRK32
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) June 4, 2018
The lens of time is making his behavior and lack of insight look worse by the day. The absence of contrition is painful to watch. He needs to go back into hiding… https://t.co/TBN5ZmJjSe
— (((Howard Forman))) (@thehowie) June 4, 2018
Where @BillClinton offers masterclass on how NOT to handle this question https://t.co/S280BaUs6W
— ?♀️ ???????? ??????? (@missanabeem) June 4, 2018
Guys doesn’t this mean Hillary is running again for something? https://t.co/VGbNo2ML3H
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) June 4, 2018
bill clinton this morning disposing of the two years of goodwill trump bought him pic.twitter.com/PbdZ0eBJUI
— Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) June 4, 2018
I’ve never seen Bill Clinton stammer so much. Its very clear he has given this matter no real thought whatsoever and views the questions as a nuisance https://t.co/3Lo4LlQDmu
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) June 4, 2018
His tone here — combative, aggrieved — really hasn’t changed in 20 years. This is the same Clinton the nation saw in that 7/98 primetime address in which he admitted the affair but stressed that “presidents have private lives.” https://t.co/C888LWL93t
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) June 4, 2018
Bill Clinton loses it under pressure from the extreme pro @craigmelvin. https://t.co/mKiW4S1KMm
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 4, 2018
Flashback: “Mrs. Clinton’s husband appears far less welcome on the trail, with his unpopularity among Republicans compounded by new skepticism on the left about his treatment of women and allegations of sexual assault.” (via @alexburnsNYT @mattfleg) https://t.co/rjdcCoBQS6 https://t.co/sXuEidNvpH
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) June 4, 2018
It’s astonishing how unready he is for these questions. (I wouldn’t assume @MonicaLewinsky wants to hear from him, but it’s perfectly valid to ask.) https://t.co/oFFq7C5IDy
— Irin Carmon (@irin) June 4, 2018
Bill Clinton gets asked if he ever apologized to Lewinsky. He responds by saying Starr investigation was unfair https://t.co/C96l2tJBe4
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 4, 2018
[image via screengrab]
