The affair between President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky is
being reexamined as part of the MeToo movement, and Clinton is clearly struggling to contend
with the renewed interest in his shady past.
Here are some of the most uncomfortable things he's said about the scandal.
Bill Clinton's 2018 book tour got off to a disastrous start when his interview with NBC
News' Craig Melvin quickly turned contentious as the discussion shifted to his former intern
and the MeToo movement.
"You typically have ignored gaping facts in describing this and I bet you don't even know
them."
In a particularly terse moment, he somehow managed to paint himself as a victim, saying
that he didn't get out of the debacle "for free."
"I left the White House $16 million in debt."
Clinton claimed two-thirds of Americans sided with him throughout the scandal.
"I am not going there, this was litigated 20 years ago."
According to the Washington Post, when reporters confronted Donald Trump in October 2016 about
his hot mic admission about assaulting women, the then-presidential candidate deflected
to a past president, saying,
"Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course - not even close."
"There's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so
abusive to women."
When pressed about his scandal being a prime target for reexamination through the lens
of the MeToo movement during his interview with NBC News, the former president deflected
to the current president.
"They've got all these serious allegations against the current occupant of the Oval Office,
and his voters don't seem to care, so you don't ever talk about that."
Clinton emerged from that high-profile television sit-down as a combative defender of his legacy
and a man who seemed to believe he was the victim of a flawed narrative involving Monica
Lewinsky.
Clinton addressed his controversial NBC News interview during a subsequent book tour event.
"The truth is, the hubbub was that I got hot under the collar because of the way the questions
were asked."
The former president also took another stab at describing his feelings about the MeToo
movement - in a way that some viewed as self-centered.
"I think it's long overdue and I have always tried to support it in the decisions and policies
that I’ve advanced."
He then asked to move on with the discussion.
Lewinsky responded in her own subtle way to the renewed focus on the scandal and the man
that changed her life.
She shared her Vanity Fair article on Twitter along with a note, saying:
"Grateful to the myriad people who have helped me evolve [and] gain perspective in the past
20 years."
Clinton got another chance to revisit the Monica Lewinsky scandal when he appeared on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
After some brief pleasantries, Colbert jumped right into that now-notorious NBC News interview,
asking the 42nd president if he'd "like a do-over" on his answer.
Clinton admitted that hadn't been his "finest hour," adding,
"That was a very painful thing that happened twenty years ago."
Colbert kept the pressure on, reminding Clinton that in the age of MeToo, it doesn't matter
how long ago it happened.
"In all due respect, sir, your behavior was the most famous example of a powerful man
sexually misbehaving in the workplace of my lifetime."
Clinton blamed the previous uncomfortable interview on NBC journalist Craig Melvin's
line of questioning.
"It looked like I was saying I didn’t apologize and had no intention to, and I was mad at
me."
Clinton came under fire once again after a June 2018 interview with PBS Newshour.
After he was asked if he thought Monica Lewinsky had, quote, "paid a higher price, a harder
price" than he did, he responded,
"Oh, I don't know, I think she paid quite a price."
The former president's most controversial statements came next.
When asked if the changing norms surrounding sexual harassment and assault are "a good
thing," Clinton said yes, and that he thinks the norms have changed in terms of, in his
words,
"What you can do to somebody against their will, how much you can crowd their space,
make them miserable at work."
That comment catalyzed another wave of backlash.
The New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman tweeted,
"'Norms have changed about what you can do to someone against their will' is a hell of
a sentiment."
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