05 June 2018 - Bill Clinton on #MeToo and Monica Lewinsky
Bill Clinton addresses his remarks on Lewinsky scandal, says he supports #MeToo
Donald Judd and Dan Merica (CNN, 05/06/2018)
Former President Bill Clinton used the opening of a book tour event in New York on Monday to respond to a defensive interview he gave NBC News in which he defended his handling of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and said that he didn't have to apologize to her.
Asked by author Walter Mosley about the response, Clinton said, "The truth is, the hubbub was I got hot under the collar because of the way the questions were asked. And I think what was lost were the two points that I made that are important to me."
"The suggestion was that I never apologized for what caused all the trouble for me 20 years ago," Clinton said. "First point is, I did. I meant it then, I meant it now. I apologized to my family, to Monica Lewinsky and her family and to the American people before a panel of ministers in the White House, which was widely reported. So I did that. I meant it then and I mean it today. I live with it all the time."
Did Bill Clinton really think he could dodge #MeToo?
Joe Concha (The Hill, 04/06/2018)
Former President Bill Clinton launched a book tour for his novel co-authored with James Patterson, "The President is Missing," over the weekend. And, thus far, it's been an unmitigated disaster, albeit a telling one, in terms of what his legacy will always be: the Monica Lewinsky affair.
That may be fair or unfair but, if the gauge is what many people want to talk about first when Bill Clinton's name is raised, that's what you call a legacy.
The former Boston Red Sox first baseman, Bill Buckner, knows this. He was a fine hitter during his 20-year major league career, even won a batting title in 1980. But bring up Buckner and the only vision anyone has is that slow grounder from Mookie Wilson trickling under his glove to hand Game 6 and, eventually, the World Series to the Mets in '86.
Bill Clinton Deployed A Tactic Used By Trump In Interview About Monica Lewinsky
Emily Peck (The Huffington Post, 04/06/2018)
n an interview on Monday, with his arms crossed protectively over his chest, former President Bill Clinton used classic perpetrator tactics to fend off questions about what transpired between him and Monica Lewinsky 20 years ago.
In doing so he missed a real opportunity to grapple honestly with his past.
Clinton was asked if he would handle the Lewinsky affair differently if he were president in 2018 ― in light of how the Me Too movement has changed perceptions of sex and power. Lewinsky herself recently wrote about the way she now sees the affair in light of Me Too.
How Bill Clinton cleared a path for Donald Trump
Dana Milbank (The Washington Post, 04/06/2018)
We didn’t know it at the time, of course. But in Bill Clinton were the seeds of Donald Trump.
With 20 years of hindsight, it is clear. To see the former president — now promoting a mystery he co-wrote with novelist James Patterson — sit down with NBC’s Craig Melvinwas to see how Clinton’s handling of the Monica Lewinsky affair was a precursor of the monstrosity we now have in the White House: dismissing unpleasant facts as “fake news,” self-righteously claiming victimhood, attacking the press and cloaking personal misbehavior in claims to be upholding the Constitution.
The former president’s offenses were far less serious than President Trump’s. Trump’s many misdeeds — against women, law, facts, democracy and decency — are in a category of their own. But Clinton set us on the path, or at least accelerated us down the path, that led to today.